THE 

QUEEN'S 
CUP 


<s 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP 


A   NOl/EL 


BY 

G.   A.   HENTY 


CHICAGO : 
M.  A.  DONOHUE  &  Co. 


COPYRIGHT,  1898, 
BY  D.   APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved. 


Stack 
Anne* 


1 


n 

THE   QUEEN'S   CUP. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A  LARGE  party  were  assembled  in  the  drawing-room 

[of   Greendale,   Sir   John   Greendale's   picturesque   old 

'mansion-house.     It  was  early  in  September;  the  men 

had  returned  from  shooting  and  the  guests  were  gath- 

,  ered  in  the  drawing-room,  in  the  pleasant  half -hour 

of  dusk  when  the  lamps  have  not  yet  been  lighted, 

though  it  is  already  too  dark  to  read.     The  conversa- 

;tion  was  general,  and  from  the  latest  news  from  India 

had  drifted  into  the  subject  of  the  Italian  belief  in  the 

Mai  Occhio. 

"  Do  you  believe  in  it,  Captain  Mallett  ? "  asked 
Bertha,  Sir  John's  only  child,  a  girl  of  sixteen,  who 
was  nestled  in  an  easy  chair  next  to  that  in  which 
the  man  she  addressed  was  sitting. 

"  I  don't  know,  Bertha."  He  had  known  her  from, 
childhood,  and  she  had  not  yet  reached  an  age  when 
the  formal  "  Miss  Greendale "  was  incumbent  upon, 
her  acquaintances.  "  I  do  not  believe  in  the  Italian 
superstition  to  anything  like  the  extent  they  carry  it. 
5-don't  think  I  should  believe  it  at  all  if  it  were  not 
that  one  man  has  always  been  unlucky  to  me." 

"How  unlucky,  Captain  Mallett?" 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  that  unlucky  is  the  proper 
word,  but  he  has  always  stood  between  me  and  suc- 
cess; at  least,  he  always  did,  for  it  is  some  years  since 
our  paths  have  crossed." 

1 


2  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  Tell  me  about  it." 

"  Well,  I  have  no  objection,  but  there  is  not  a  great 
deal  to  tell.  I  was  at  school  with — I  won't  mention  his 
name.  We  were  about  the  same  age.  He  was  a  bully. 
I  interfered  with  him,  we  had  a  fight,  and  I  scored 
my  first  and  only  success  over  him.  It  was  a  very 
tough  fight — by  far  the  toughest  I  ever  had.  I  was 
stronger  than  he,  but  he  was  the  more  active.  I  fan- 
cied that  it  would  not  be  very  difficult  to  thrash  him, 
but  found  that  I  had  made  a  great  mistake.  It  was 
a  long  fight,  and  it  was  only  because  I  was  in  better 
condition  that  I  won  at  last.  Well,  you  know  when 
boys  fight  at  school  in  most  cases  they  become  better 
friends  afterwards ;  but  it  was  not  so  here.  He  refused 
to  shake  hands  with  me,  and  muttered  something  about 
its  being  his  turn  next  time.  Till  then  he  had  not 
been  considered  a  first-rate  hand  at  anything;  he  was 
one  of  those  fellows  who  saunter  through  school,  get 
up  just  enough  lessons  to  rub  along  comfortably,  never 
take  any  prominent  part  in  games,  but  have  a  little 
set  of  their  own,  and  hold  themselves  aloof  from  school 
in  general. 

"  Once  or  twice  when  we  had  played  cricket  he 
had  done  so  excellently  that  it  was  a  grievance  that  he 
would  not  play  regularly,  and  there  was  a  sort  of  gen- 
eral idea  that  if  he  chose  he  could  do  most  things  well. 
After  that  fight  he  changed  altogether.  He  took  to 
cricket  in  downright  earnest,  and  was  soon  acknowl- 
edged to  be  the  best  bat  and  best  bowler  in  the  school. 
Before  that  it  had  been  regarded  as  certain  that  when 
the  captain  left  I  should  be  elected,  but  when  the  time 
came  he  got  a  majority  of  votes.  I  should  not  have 
minded  that,  for  I  recognised  that  he  was  a  better 
player  than  I,  but  I  fancied  that  he  had  not  done  it 
fairly,  for  many  fellows  whom  I  regarded  as  certain 
to  support  me  turned  round  at  the  last  moment. 

"We  were  in  the  same  form  at  school.     He  had 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  3 

been  always  near  the  bottom;  I  stood  fairly  up  in  it, 
and  was  generally  second  or  third.  He  took  to  read- 
ing, and  in  six  weeks  after  the  fight  won  his  way  to 
the  top  of  the  class  and  remained  there;  and  not  only 
so,  but  he  soon  showed  himself  so  far  superior  to  the 
rest  of  us  that  he  got  his  remove  to  the  form  above. 

"  Then  there  was  a  competition  in  Latin  verses 
open  to  both  forms.  Latin  verse  was  the  one  thing 
in  which  I  was  strong.  There  is  a  sort  of  knack,  you 
know,  in  stringing  them  together.  A  fellow  may  be  a 
duffer  generally  and  yet  turn  out  Latin  verse  better 
than  fellows  who  are  vastly  superior  to  him  on  other 
points.  It  was  regarded  as  certain  that  I  should  gain 
that.  No  one  had  intended  to  go  in  against  me,  but 
at  the  last  moment  he  put  his  name  down,  and,  to 
the  astonishment  of  everyone,  won  in  a  canter. 

"  We  left  about  the  same  time,  and  went  up  to 
Oxford  together,  but  to  different  Colleges.  I  rowed 
in  my  College  Eight,  he  in  his.  We  were  above  them 
on  the  river,  but  they  made  a  bump  every  night  until 
they  got  behind  us,  and  then  bumped  us.  He  was 
stroke  of  his  boat,  and  everyone  said  that  success  was 
due  to  his  rowing,  and  I  believe  it  was.  I  did  not  so 
much  mind  that,  for  my  line  was  chiefly  sculling.  I 
had  won  in  my  own  College,  and  entered  for  Henley, 
where  it  was  generally  thought  that  I  had  a  fair  chance 
of  winning  the  Diamonds.  However,  I  heard  a  fort- 
night before  the  entries  closed  that  he  was  out  on  the 
river  every  morning  sculling.  I  knew  what  it  was 
going  to  be,  and  was  not  surprised  when  his  name  ap- 
peared next  to  mine  in  the  entries. 

"  We  were  drawn  together,  and  he  romped  in  six 
lengths  ahead  of  me,  though  curiously  enough  he  was 
badly  beaten  in  the  final  heat.  He  stroked  the  Uni- 
versity afterwards.  Though  I  was  tried  I  did  not 
even  get  a  seat  in  the  eight,  contrary  to  general  ex- 
pectation, but  I  know  that  it  was  his  influence  that 


4  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

kept  me  out  of  it.  We  had  only  one  more  tussle,  and 
again  I  was  worsted.  I  went  in  for  the  Newdigate — 
that  is  the  English  poetry  prize,  you  know.  1  had 
always  been  fond  of  stringing  verses  together,  and  the 
friends  to  whom  I  showed  my  poem  before  sending  it 
in  all  thought  that  I  had  a  very  good  chance.  I  felt 
hopeful  myself,  for  I  had  not  heard  that  he  was  think- 
ing of  competing,  and,  indeed,  did  riot  remember  that 
he  had  ever  written  a  line  of  verse  when  at  school. 
However,  when  the  winner  was  declared,  there  was  his 
name  again.  I  believe  that  it  was  the  disgust  I  felt  at 
his  superiority  to  me  in  everything  that  led  me  to 
ask  my  father  to  get  me  a  commission  at  once,  for  it 
seemed  to  me  that  I  should  never  succeed  in  anything 
if  he  were  my  rival.  Since  then  our  lives  have  been 
altogether  apart,  although  I  have  met  him  occasion- 
ally. Of  course  we  speak,  for  there  has  never  been 
any  quarrel  between  us  since  that  fight,  but  I  know 
that  he  has  never  forgiven  me,  and  I  have  a  sort  of  un- 
easy conviction  that  some  day  or  other  we  shall  come 
into  contact  again.  I  am  sure  that  if  we  meet  again 
he  will  do  me  a  bad  turn  if  possible.  I  regard  him  as 
being  in  some  sort  of  way  my  evil  genius.  I  own  that 
it  is  foolish  and  absurd,  but  I  cannot  get  over  the 
feeling." 

"Oh,  it  is  absurd,  Captain  Mallett,"  the  girl  said. 
"He  may  have  beaten  you  in  little  things,  but  you 
•won  the  Victoria  Cross  in  the  Crimea,  and  every  one 
knows  that  you  are  one  of  the  best  shots  in  the  coun- 
try, and  that  before  you  went  away  you  were  always 
in  the  first  flight  with  the  hounds." 

"  Ah,  you  are  an  enthusiast.  Bertha.  I  don't  say 
that  I  cannot  hold  my  own  with  most  men  at  a  good 
many  things  where  not  brains,  but  brute  strength  and 
a  quick  eye  are  the  only  requisites,  but  I  am  quite  con- 
vinced that  if  that  fellow  had  been  in  the  Redan  that 
day,  he  would  have  got  the  Victoria  Cross,  and  I 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  fr 

should  not.  There  is  no  doubt  about  his  pluck,  and 
if  it  had  only  been  to  put  me  in  the  shade  he  would 
have  performed  some  brilliant  action  or  other  that 
would  have  got  it  for  him.  He  is  a  better  rider  than 
I  am,  at  any  rate  a  more  reckless  one,  and  he  is  a  better 
shot  too.  He  is  incomparably  more  clever." 
"  I  cannot  believe  it,  Captain  Mallett." 
"  It  is  quite  true,  Bertha,  and  to  add  to  it  all,  he 
is  a  remarkably  handsome  fellow,  a  first-rate  talker, 
and  when  he  pleases  can  make  himself  wonderfully 
popular." 

"  He  must  be  a  perfect  Crichton,  Captain  Mallett." 
"  The  worst  of  it  is,  Bertha,  although  I  am 
ashamed  of  myself  for  thinking  so,  I  have  never  been 
able  to  divest  myself  of  the  idea  that  he  did  not  play 
fair.  There  were  two  or  three  queer  things  that  hap- 
pened at  school  in  which  he  was  always  suspected  of 
having  had  a  hand,  though  it  was  never  proved.  I  was 
always  convinced  that  he  used  cribs,  and  partly  owed 
his  place  to  them.  I  was  jealous  enough  to  believe- 
that  the  Latin  verses  he  sent  in  were  written  for  him 
by  Rigby,  who  was  one  of  the  monitors,  and  a  great 
dab  at  verses.  Rigby  was  a  great  chum  of  his,  for 
he  was  a  mean  fellow,  and  my  rival  was  always  well 
supplied  with  money,  and  to  do  him  justice,  liberal 
with  it.  Then,  just  before  we  left  school,  he  carried 
off  the  prize  in  swimming.  He  was  a  good  swimmer, 
but  I  was  a  better.  I  thought  myself  for  once  certain 
to  beat  him,  but  an  hour  before  the  race  I  got  fright- 
ful cramps,  a  thing  that  I  never  had  before  or  since, 
and  I  could  hardly  make  a  fight  at  all.  I  thought  at 
the  time,  and  I  have  thought  since,  that  I  must  have 
taken  something  at  breakfast  that  disagreed  with  me- 
horribly,  and  that  he  somehow  put  it  in  my  tea. 

"  Then  again  in  that  matter  of  the  Sculls  at  Hen- 
ley. I  never  felt  my  boat  row  so  heavily  as  it  did 
then.  When  it  was  taken  out  of  the  water  it  was 


6  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

found  that  a  piece  of  curved  iron  hoop  was  fixed  to 
the  bottom  by  a  nail  that  had  been  pushed  through  the 
thin  skin.  It  certainly  was  not  there  when  it  was  on 
the  rack,  but  it  was  there  when  I  rowed  back  to  the 
boathouse,  and  it  could  only  have  got  there  by  being 
put  on  as  the  boat  was  being  lowered  into  the  water. 
There  were  three  or  four  men  helping  to  lower  her 
down — two  of  them  friends  of  mine,  two  of  them  fel- 
lows employed  at  the  boathouse.  While  it  lay  in  the 
water,  before  I  got  in  and  took  my  place,  anyone 
stooping  over  it  might  unobserved  have  passed  his 
hand  under  it  and  have  pushed  the  nail  through.  I 
never  said  anything  about  it.  I  had  been  beaten; 
there  was  no  use  making  a  row  and  a  scandal  over  it, 
especially  as  I  had  not  a  shadow  of  proof  against  any 
one;  but  I  was  certain  that  he  was  not  so  fast  as  I 
was,  for  during  practice  my  time  had  been  as  nearly 
as  possible  the  same  as  that  of  the  man  who  beat  him 
with  the  greatest  ease,  and  I  am  convinced  that  for 
once  I  should  have  got  the  better  of  him  had  it  not 
been  for  foul  play." 

"That  was  shameful,  Captain  Mallett,"  Bertha 
said,  indignantly.  "  I  wonder  you  did  not  take  some 
steps  to  expose  him." 

"  I  had  nothing  to  go  upon,  Bertha.  It  was  a  case 
of  suspicion  only,  and  you  have  no  idea  what  a  hor- 
rible row  there  would  have  been  if  I  had  said  anything 
about  it.  Committees  would  have  sat  upon  it,  and  the 
thing  would  have  got  into  the  papers,  fellows  would 
have  taken  sides,  and  I  should  have  been  blackguarded 
by  one  party  for  hinting  that  a  well-known  University 
man  had  been  guilty  of  foul  practices.  Altogether  it 
would  have  been  a  horrible  nuisance;  it  was  much 
better  to  keep  quiet  and  say  nothing  about  it." 

"  I  am  sure  I  could  not  have  done  that,  Captain 
Mallett." 

"Ko,   but   then  you   see   women   are   much   more 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  7 

impetuous  than  men.  I  am  certain  that  after  you  had 
once  set  the  ball  rolling,  you  would  have  been  sorry 
that  you  had  not  bided  your  time  and  waited  for  an- 
other contest  in  which  you  might  have  turned  the 
tables  fairly  and  squarely." 

"  He  must  be  hateful,"  the  girl  said. 

"He  is  not  considered  hateful,  I  can  assure  you. 
He  conceived  a  grudge  against  me  and  has  taken  im- 
mense pains  to  pay  me  out,  and  I  only  trust  that  our 
paths  will  never  cross  again.  If  so,  I  have  no  doubt 
that  I  shall  again  get  the  worst  of  it.  At  any  rate, 
you  see  I  was  not  without  justification  when  I  said  that 
though  I  did  not  believe  in  the  Mai  Occhio,  I  had  rea- 
son for  having  some  little  superstition  about  it." 

"  I  prophesy,  Captain  Mallett,  that  if  ever  you  meet 
him  in  the  future  you  will  turn  the  tables  on  him. 
Such  a  man  as  that  can  never  win  in  the  long  run." 

"  Well,  I  hope  that  your  prophecy  will  come  true ; 
at  any  rate  I  shall  try,  and  I  hope  that  your  good 
wishes  will  counter-balance  his  power,  and  that  you 
will  be  a  sort  of  Mascotte." 

"  How  tiresome ! "  the  girl  broke  off,  as  there  was 
a  movement  among  the  ladies.  "  It  is  time  for  us  to 
go  up  to  dress  for  dinner,  and  though  I  shan't  take 
half  the  time  that  some  of  them  will  do,  I  suppose  I 
must  go." 

Captain  Mallett  had  six  months  previously  suc- 
ceeded, at  the  death  of  his  father,  to  an  estate  five 
miles  from  that  of  Sir  John  Greendale.  His  elder 
brother  had  been  killed  in  the  hunting  field  a  few 
months  before,  and  Frank  Mallett,  who  was  fond  of 
his  profession,  and  had  never  looked  for  anything  be- 
yond it  save  a  younger  son's  portion,  had  thus  come 
in  for  a  very  fine  estate.  Two  months  after  his  fa- 
thers death  he  most  reluctantly  sent  in  his  papers, 
considering  it  his  duty  to  settle  down  on  the  estate: 
but  ten  days  later  came  the  news  of  the  outbreak  of 


g  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

the  Sepoys  of  Barrackpoor,  and  he  at  once  telegraphed 
to  the  War  Office,  asking  to  be  allowed  to  cancel  his 
application  for  leave  to  sell  out.  So  far  the  cloud  was 
a  very  small  one,  but  rumours  of  trouble  had  been 
current  for  some  little  time,  and  the  affair  at  least 
gave  him  an  excuse  for  delaying  his  retirement.  Very 
rapidly  the  little  cloud  spread  until  it  overshadowed 
India  from  Calcutta  to  the  Afghan  frontier.  His  regi- 
ment stood  some  distance  down  on  the  rota  for  In- 
dian service,  but  as  the  news  grew  worse  regiment 
after  regiment  was  hurried  off,  and  it  now  stood  very 
near  the  head  of  the  list. 

All  leave  had  not  yet  been  stopped,  but  officers 
away  were  ordered  to  leave  addresses,  so  that  they 
could  be  summoned  to  join  at  an  hour's  notice.  When 
he  had  left  home  that  morning  for  a  day's  shooting 
with  Sir  John,  he  had  ordered  a  horse  to  be  kept  sad- 
dled, so  that  if  a  telegram  came  it  could  be  brought 
to  him  without  a  moment's  delay.  He  was  burning 
to  be  off.  There  had  at  first  been  keen  disappointment 
in  the  regiment  that  they  were  not  likely  to  take  part 
in  the  fierce  struggle ;  but  the  feeling  had  changed  into 
one  of  eager  expectation,  when,  as  the  contest  widened 
and  it  was  evident  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  make 
the  greatest  efforts  to  save  India,  the  prospect  of  their 
employment  in  the  work  grew.  For  the  last  fortnight 
expectation  had  been  at  its  height;  orders  had  been 
received  for  the  regiment  to  hold  itself  in  readiness 
for  embarkation,  men  had  been  called  back  from  fur- 
lough, the  heavy  baggage  had  been  packed,  and  all 
was  ready  for  a  start  at  twenty-four  hours'  notice. 
Many  of  the  officers  obtained  a  few  days'  leave  to  say 
good-bye  to  their  friends  or  settle  business  matters, 
and  Frank  Mallett  was  among  them. 

"  So  I  suppose  you  may  go  at  any  moment,  Mal- 
lett?" said  the  host  at  the  dinner  table  that  evening. 

"Yes,  Sir  John,  my  shooting  to-day  has  been  ex- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  9 

ecrable;  for  I  have  known  that  at  any  moment  my 
fellow  might  ride  up  with  the  order  for  me  to  return 
at  once,  and  we  are  all  in  such  a  fever  of  impatience, 
that  I  am  surprised  I  brought  down  a  bird  at  all." 

"  You  can  hardly  hope  to  be  in  time  eithefr  for 
the  siege  of  Delhi  or  for  the  relief  of  Lucknow,  Mal- 
lett." 

"  One  would  think  not,  but  there  is  no  saying. 
You  see,  our  news  is  a  month  old;  Havelock  had  been 
obliged  to  fall  back  on  Cawnpore,  and  a  perfect  army 
of  rebels  were  in  Delhi.  Of  course,  the  reinforce- 
ments will  soon  be  arriving,  and  I  don't  think  it  likely 
that  we  shall  get  up  there  in  time  to  share  in  those 
affairs;  but  even  if  we  are  late  both  for  Lucknow  and 
Delhi,  there  will  be  plenty  for  us  to  do.  What  with 
the  Sepoy  army  and  with  the  native  chiefs  that  have 
joined  them,  and  the  fighting  men  of  Oude  and  one 
thing  and  another,  there  cannot  be  less  than  200,000 
men  in  arms  against  us ;  and  even  if  we  do  take  Delhi 
and  relieve  Lucknow,  that  is  only  the  beginning  of  the 
work.  The  scoundrels  are  fighting  with  halters  round 
their  necks,  and  I  have  no  fear  of  our  missing  our 
share  of  the  work  of  winning  back  India  and  punishing 
these  bloodthirsty  scoundrels." 

"  It  is  a  terrible  time,"  Sir  John  said ;  "  and  old  as 
I  am,  I  should  like  to  be  out  there  to  lend  a  hand  in 
avenging  this  awful  business  at  Cawnpore,  and  the 
cold-blooded  massacres  at  other  places." 

"  I  think  that  there  will  be  no  lack  of  volunteers, 
Sir  John.  If  Government  were  to  call  for  them  I  be- 
lieve that  100,000  men  could  be  raised  in  a  week." 

"  Ay,  in  twenty-four  hours ;  there  is  scarce  a  man 
in  England  but  would  give  five  years  of  his  life  to 
take  a  share  in  the  punishment  of  the  faithless  mon- 
sters. There  was  no  lack  of  national  feeling  in  the 
Crimean  War;  but  it  was  as  nothing  to  that  which  has 
been  excited  by  these  massacres.  Had  it  been  a  simple 


10  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

mutiny  among  the  troops  \ve  should  all  be  well  content 
to  leave  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  our  soldiers;  hut 
it  is  a  personal  matter  to  everyone;  rich  and  poor  are 
alike  moved  by  a  burning  desire  to  take  part  in  the 
work  of  vengeance.  I  should  doubt  if  the  country 
has  ever  been  so  stirred  from  its  earliest  history." 

"  Yes,  I  fancy  we  are  all  envying  you,  Mallett,"  one 
of  the  other  gentlemen  said.  "  Partridge  shooting  is 
tame  work  in  comparison  with  that  which  is  going  on 
in  India.  It  was  lucky  for  you  that  that  first  mutiny 
took  place  when  it  did,  for  had  it  been  a  week  later 
you  would  probably  have  been  gazetted  out  before  the 
news  came." 

"  Yes,  that  was  a  piece  of  luck  certainly,  Ashurst ; 
I  don't  know  how  I  should  k>  f>  -'ng  if  I  had  been 
out  of  it  and  the  regiment  on  the  point  of  starting  for 
India." 

"  I  suppose  you  are  likely  to  embark  from  Plym- 
outh," said  Sir  John. 

"  I  should  think  so,  but  there  is  no  saying.  I  hardly 
fancy  that  we  should  go  through  France,  as  some  of 
the  regiments  have  done;  there  would  be  no  very  great 
gain  of  time,  especially  if  we  start  as  far  west  as 
Plymouth.  Besides,  I  have  not  heard  of  any  trans- 
ports being  sent  round  to  Marseilles  lately.  Of  course, 
in  any  case  we  shall  have  to  land  at  Alexandria  and 
cress  the  desert  to  Suez.  I  should  fancy,  now  that  the 
advantages  of  that  route  have  been  shown,  that  troops 
in  future  will  always  be  taken  that  way;  you  see,  it 
is  only  five  weeks  to  India  instead  of  five  months. 
The  situation  is  bad  enough  as  it  is,  but  it  would 
have  been  infinitely  worse  if  no  reinforcements  could 
have  got  out  from  England  in  less  than  five  months." 

"  Is  there  anything  that  I  can  do  for  you  while 
you  are  away,  Mallett?"  Sir  John  Greendale  asked, 
as  they  lingered  for  a  moment  after  the  other  gentle- 
men had  gone  off  to  join  the  ladies. 


THE  QUEEN'S  CTTP.  H 

"  Nothing  that  I  know  of,  thank  you ;  Norton  will 
see  that  everything  goes  on  as  usual.  My  father  never 
interfered  with  him  in  the  general  management  of  the 
estate,  and  had  the  greatest  confidence  in  him.  I  have 
known  him  since  I  was  a  child,  and  have  always  liked 
him,  so  I  can  go  away  assured  that  things  will  go  on 
as  usual.  If  I  go  down,  the  estate  goes,  as  you  know, 
to  a  distant  cousin  whom  I  have  never  seen.  As  to 
other  matters,  I  have  but  little  to  arrange.  I  have 
made  a  will,  so  that  I  shall  have  nothing  to  trouble 
«ie  on  that  score.  Tranton  came  over  with  it  this 
morning  from  Stroud,  and  I  signed  it." 

"  That  is  right,  lad ;  we  all  hope  most  sincerely 
that  there  will  be  no  occasion  for  its  provisions  to  be 
carried  out,  but  it  is  always  best  that  a  man  should 
get  these  things  off  his  mind.  Are  you  going  to  say 
good-bye  to  us  to-night  ? " 

"I  shall  do  it  as  a  precautionary  measure,  Sir 
John,  but  I  expect  that  when  I  get  the  summons  I 
shall  have  time  to  drive  over  here.  My  horse  will  do 
the  distance  in  five  and  twenty  minutes,  and  unless  a 
telegram  comes  within  an  hour  of  the  night  mail  pass- 
ing through  Stroud  I  shall  be  able  to  manage  it.  I 
saw  everything  packed  up  before  I  left,  and  my  man 
will  see  that  everything,  except  the  portmanteau  with 
the  things  I  shall  want  on  the  voyage,  goes  on  with 
the  regimental  baggage." 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  later  Captain  Mallett  mount- 
ed his  dog-cart  and  drove  home.  The  next  morning 
he  received  a  letter  from  the  Adjutant,  saying  that  he 
expected  the  order  some  time  during  the  next  day. 

"  We  are  to  embark  at  Plymouth,  and  I  had  a  tele- 
gram this  morning  saying  that  the  transport  had  ar- 
rived and  had  taken  her  coal  on  board;  of  course 
they  will  get  the  news  at  the  War  Office  to-day,  and 
will  probably  wire  at  once.  I  think  we  shall  most 
likely  leave  here  by  a  train  early  the  next  morning. 


12  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

I  shall,  of  course,  telegraph  as  soon  as  the  order  comes, 
but  as  I  know  that  you  have  everything  ready,  you 
will  be  in  plenty  of  time  if  you  come  on  by  the  night 
mail." 

At  eleven  o'clock  a  mounted  messenger  from  Stroud 
brought  on  the  telegram :  "  We  entrain  at  six  to-mor- 
row morning,  join  immediately." 

This  was  but  a  formal  notification,  and  he  resolved 
to  go  on  by  the  night  mail.  He  spent  the  day  in 
driving  round  the  estate  and  saying  good-bye  to  his 
tenants.  He  lunched  at  the  house  of  one  of  the  lead- 
ing farmers,  where  as  a  boy  he  had  been  always  made 
heartily  welcome.  Before  mounting  his  dog-cart,  he 
stood  for  a  few  minutes  chatting  with  Martha,  his 
host's  pretty  daughter. 

"  You  are  not  looking  yourself,  Martha,"  he  said ; 
"  you  must  pick  up  your  roses  again  before  I  come 
back.  I  shall  leave  the  army  then,  and  give  a  big 
dinner  to  my  tenants,  with  a  dance  afterwards,  and  I 
shall  open  the  ball  with  you,  and  expect  you  to  look 
your  best.  Who  is  this  ? "  he  asked,  as  a  young  fellow 
came  round  the  corner  of  the  house,  and  on  seeing 
them,  turned  abruptly,  and  walked  off.  "It  is  George 
Lechmere,  is  it  not  ? " 

A  flash  of  colour  came  into  the  girl's  face. 

"  Ah,  I  see,"  he  laughed ;  "  he  thought  I  was  flirt- 
ing with  you,  and  has  gone  off  jealous.  Well,  you  will 
have  no  difficulty  in  making  yo\ir  peace  with  him  to- 
morrow. Good-bye,  child,  I  must  be  going;  I  have  a 
long  round  to  make." 

He  jumped  into  the  dog-cart  and  drove  away,  while 
the  girl  went  quietly  back  into  the  house. 

Her  father  looked  up  at  the  clock.  "  Two  o'clock," 
he  said ;  "  I  must  be  going.  I  expected  George  Lech- 
mere  over  here;  he  was  coming  to  talk  with  me  about 
hie  father's  twelve-acre  meadow.  I  want  it  badly  this 
winter,  for  I  have  had  more  land  under  the  plough 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  13 

than  usual  this  year.  I  must  either  get  some  pasture 
or  sell  off  some  of  my  stock." 

"  George  Lechmere  came,  father,"  Martha  said, 
with  an  angry  toss  of  her  head,  "  but  when  he  saw  me 
talking  to  Captain  Mallett  he  turned  and  went  off; 
just  as  if  I  was  not  to  open  my  lips  to  any  man  but 
himself." 

The  farmer  would  have  spoken,  but  his  wife  shook 
her  head  at  him.  George  Lechmere  had  been  at  one 
time  engaged  to  Martha,  but  his  jealousy  had  caused 
so  many  quarrels  that  the  engagement  had  been  broken 
off.  He  still  came  often  to  the  house,  however,  and  her 
parents  hoped  that  it  would  be  renewed,  for  the  young 
fellow's  character  stood  high.  He  was  his  father's 
right  hand,  and  would  naturally  succeed  him  to  the 
farm;  his  parents,  too,  had  heartily  approved  of  the 
match.  So  far,  however,  the  prospect  of  the  young 
people  coming  together  was  not  encouraging.  Martha 
was  somewhat  given  to  flirtation,  George  was  as  jeal- 
ous as  ever,  and  was  unable  to  conceal  his  feelings, 
which,  as  he  had  now  no  right  to  criticise  her  con- 
duct, so  angered  the  girl  that  she  not  unfrequently 
gave  encouragement  to  others  solely  to  show  her  in- 
difference to  his  opinions. 

George  Lechmere  had  indeed  gone  away  with  anger 
in  his  heart.  He  knew  that  Captain  Mallett  was  on 
the  point  of  leaving  with  his  regiment  for  India,  and 
yet  to  see  him  chatting  familiarly  with  Martha  ex- 
cited in  him  a  passionate  feeling  of  grievance  against 
her. 

"  It  matters  nought  who  it  is,"  he  muttered  to  him- 
self, "  she  is  ever  ready  to  carry  on  with  anyone, 
while  she  can  hardly  give  me  a  civil  word  when  I  call. 
I  know  that  if  we  were  to  marry  it  would  be  just  the 
same  thing,  and  that  I  am  a  fool  to  stop  here  and  let 
it  vex  me.  It  would  be  better  for  me  to  get  right  out 
of  it.  John  is  old  enough  to  take  my  place  on  the 
2 


14  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

farm.  Some  of  these  days  I  will  take  the  Queen's 
shilling;  if  I  were  once  away  I  should  not  be  always 
thinking  of  her.  I  know  I  am  a  fool  to  let  a  girl 
trouble  me  so,  but  I  can't  help  it.  If  I  stay  here  I 
know  that  I  shall  do  mischief  either  to  her  or  to  some 
one  else;  I  felt  like  doing  it  last  month  when  she  was 
over  at  that  business  at  Squire  Carthew's — he  is  just 
such  another  one  as  Captain  Mallett,  only  he  is  a  bad 
landlord,  while  ours  is  a  good  one.  What  made  him 
think  of  asking  all  his  own  tenantry,  and  a  good  many 
of  us  round,  and  getting  up  a  cricket  match  and  a 
dance  on  the  grass  is  more  than  I  can  say;  he  never 
did  such  a  thing  before  in  all  the  ten  years  since  he 
became  master  there.  They  all  noticed  how  he  carried 
on  with  Martha  and  how  she  seemed  to  like  it;  it  was 
the  talk  of  everyone  there.  If  I  had  not  gone  away  I 
should  have  made  a  fool  of  myself,  though  I  have  no 
right  to  interfere  with  her,  and  her  father  and  mother 
were  there  and  seemed  in  no  way  put  out.  I  will  go 
away  and  have  a  look  at  that  lot  of  young  cattle  I 
bought  the  other  day;  I  don't  know  that  I  ever  saw 
a  more  likely  lot." 

It  was  dark  when  George  returned.  On  his  way 
home  he  took  a  path  that  passed  near  the  house  whence 
he  had  turned  away  so  angrily  a  few  hours  before. 
It  was  not  the  nearest  way,  but  somehow  he  always 
took  it,  even  at  hours  when  there  was  no  chance  of 
his  getting  the  most  .distant  sight  of  Martha.  Pres- 
ently he  stopped  suddenly,  for  from  behind  the  wall 
that  bounded  the  kitchen  garden  of  the  farm  he  heard 
voices.  A  man  was  speaking. 

"  You  must  make  your  choice  at  once,  darling, 
for  as  I  have  told  you  I  am  off  to-morrow.  We  will 
be  married  as  soon  as  we  get  there,  and  you  know 
you  cannot  stop  here." 

"I  know  I  can't,"  Martha's  voice  replied,  "but 
how  can  I  leave  them  ? " 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  15 

"  They  will  forgive  you  when  you  come  back  a 
lady,"  he  said ;  "  it  will  be  a  year  at  least  before  I  re- 
turn, and " 

George  could  restrain  himself  no  longer.  A  furi- 
ous exclamation  broke  from  his  lips,  and  he  made  a 
desperate  attempt  to  climb  the  wall,  which  was,  how- 
ever, too  high.  When,  after  two  or  three  unsuccessful 
attempts,  he  paused  for  a  moment,  all  was  silent  in  the 
garden. 

"I  will  tackle  her  to-morrow,"  he  said  grimly, 
"  and  him  too.  But  I  dare  not  go  in  now.  Bennett 
has  always  been  a  good  friend  to  me,  and  so  has  his 
wife,  and  it  would  half  kill  them  were  they  to  know 
what  I  have  heard ;  but  as  for  her  and  that  villain " 

George's  mouth  closed  in  grim  determination,  and 
he  strolled  on  home  through  the  darkness.  Whatever 
his  resolutions  may  have  been,  he  found  no  oppor- 
tunity of  carrying  them  out,  for  the  next  morning  he 
heard  that  Martha  Bennett  had  disappeared.  How  or 
why,  no  one  knew.  She  had  been  missing  since  tea 
time  on  the  previous  afternoon ;  she  had  taken  nothing 
with  her,  and  the  farmer  and  his  two  sons  were  search- 
ing all  the  neighbourhood  for  some  sign  of  her.  The 
police  of  Stroud  came  over  in  the  afternoon,  and  took 
up  the  investigation.  The  general  opinion  was  that 
she  must  have  been  murdered,  and  every  pond  was 
dragged,  every  ditch  examined,  for  a  distance  round 
the  farm.  In  the  meantime  George  Lechmere  held  his 
tongue. 

"  It  is  better,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  that  her  parents 
and  friends  should  think  her  dead  than  know  the 
truth." 

He  seldom  spoke  to  anyone,  but  went  doggedly 
about  his  work.  His  father  and  mother,  knowing  how 
passionately  he  had  been  attached  to  Martha,  were 
not  surprised  at  his  strange  demeanour,  though  they 
wondered  that  he  took  no  part  in  the  search  for  her. 


16  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

They  had  their  trouble,  too,  for  although  they  never 
breathed  a  word  of  their  thoughts  even  to  each  other, 
there  was,  deep  down  in  their  heats,  a  fear  that  George 
knew  something  of  the  girl's  disappearance.  His  in- 
tense jealousy  had  been  a  source  of  grief  and  trouble 
to  them.  Previous  to  his  engagement  to  Martha  he 
had  been  everything  they  could  have  wished  him.  He 
had  been  the  best  of  sons,  the  steadiest  of  workers, 
and  a  general  favourite  from  his  willingness  to  oblige, 
his  cheerfulness  and  good  temper.  His  jealousy,  as  a 
child,  had  been  a  source  of  trouble;  any  gift,  any  little 
treat,  for  his  younger  brothers,  in  which  he  had  not 
fully  shared,  had  been  the  occasion  for  a  violent  out- 
burst of  temper,  never  exhibited  by  him  at  any  other 
time,  and  this  feeling  had  again  shown  itself  as  soon 
as  he  had  singled  out  Martha  as  the  object  of  his  at- 
tentions. 

They  had  remarked  a  strangeness  in  his  manner 
when  he  had  returned  home  that  night,  and,  remem- 
bering the  past,  each  entertained  a  secret  dread  that 
there  had  been  some  more  violent  quarrel  than  usual 
between  him  and  Martha,  and  that  in  his  mad  passion 
he  had  killed  her.  It  was,  then,  with  a  feeling  almost 
of  relief  that  a  month  after  her  disappearance  he 
briefly  announced  his  intention  of  leaving  the  farm 
and  enlisting  in  the  army.  His  mother  looked  in 
dumb  misery  at  her  husband,  who  only  said  gravely: 

"  Well,  lad,  you  are  old  enough  to  make  your  own 
choice.  Things  have  changed  for  you  of  late,  and 
may  be  it  is  as  well  that  you  should  make  a  change, 
too.  You  have  been  a  good  son,  and  I  shall  miss  you 
sorely;  but  John  is  taking  after  you,  and  presently 
he  will  make  up  for  your  loss." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  go,  father,  but  I  feel  that  I  cannot 
stay  here." 

"If  you  feel  that  it  is  best  that  you  should  go, 
George,  I  shall  say  no  word  to  hinder  you,"  and  then 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  17 

his  wife  was  sure  that  the  fear  she  felt  was  shared  by 
her  husband.  The  next  morning  George  came  down  in 
his  Sunday  clothes,  carrying  a  bundle.  Few  words 
were  spoken  at  breakfast;  when  it  was  over  he  got  up 
and  said: 

*'  Well,  good-bye,  father  and  mother,  and  you  boys ; 
I  never  thought  to  leave  you  like  this,  but  things  have 
gone  against  me,  and  I  feel  I  shall  be  best  away.  John, 
I  look  to  you  to  fill  my  place.  Good-bye  all,"  and  with 
a  silent  shake  of  the  hand  he  took  up  his  bundle  and 
stick  and  went  out,  leaving  his  brothers,  who  had  not 
been  told  of  his  intentions,  speechless  with  astonish- 
ment. 


CHAPTER  II. 

FRANK  MALLETT,  after  he  had  visited  all  his  tenants, 
drove  to  Sir  John  Greendale's. 

"  We  have  got  the  route,"  he  said,  as  he  entered, 
"  and  I  leave  this  evening.  I  had  a  note  from  the 
Adjutant  this  morning  saying  that  will  be  soon 
enough,  so  you  see  I  have  time  to  come  over  and  say 
good-bye  comfortably." 

"  I  do  not  think  good-byes  are  ever  comfortable," 
Lady  Greendale  said ;  "  one  may  get  through  some 
more  comfortably  than  others,  but  that  is  all  that  can 
be  said  for  the  best  of  them." 

"  I  call  them  hateful,"  Bertha  put  in,  "  downright 
hateful,  Captain  Mallett — especially  when  anyone  is 
going  away  to  fight." 

"  They  are  not  pleasant,  I  admit,"  Frank  Mallett 
agreed,  "  and  I  ought  to  have  said  as  comfortably  as 
may  be.  I  think  perhaps  those  who  go  feel  it  less 
than  those  who  stay;  they  are  excited  about  their 
going;  they  have  lots  to  think  about  and  to  do;  and 
the  idea  that  they  may  not  come  back  again  scarcely 
occurs  to  them  at  the  time,  although  they  would  admit 
its  possibility  or  even  its  probability  if  questioned. 
However,  I  fancy  the  worst  of  the  fighting  will  be 
over  by  the  time  we  get  there.  It  seems  almost  cer- 
tain that  it  will  be  so  if  Delhi  is  captured  and  Luck- 
now  relieved.  The  Sepoys  thought  that  they  had  the 
game  entirely  in  their  hands,  and  that  they  would 
sweep  us  right  out  of  India  almost  without  resistance; 
they  have  failed,  and  when  they  see  that  every  day 
18 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  19 

their  chances  of  success  diminish,  their  resistance  will 
grow  fainter. 

"  I  expect  that  we  shall  have  many  long  marches, 
a  great  many  skirmishes,  and  perhaps  two  or  three 
hard  fights,  but  I  have  not  a  shadow  of  fear  of  a  sin- 
gle reverse.  We  are  going  out  at  the  best  time  of  year, 
and  with  cool  weather  and  hard  exercise  there  will  be 
little  danger  of  fevers;  therefore  the  chances  are  very 
strongly  in  favour  of  my  returning  safe  and  sound. 
It  may  take  a  couple  of  years  to  stamp  it  all  out,  but 
at  the  end  of  that  time  I  hope  to  return  here  for  good. 
I  shall  find  you  a  good  deal  more  altered,  Miss  Green- 
dale,  than  you  will  find  me.  You  will  have  become 
a  dignified  young  lady,  I  shall  be  only  a  little  older 
and  a  little  browner.  You  see,  I  have  never  been  sta- 
tioned in  India  since  I  joined,  for  the  regiment  had 
only  just  come  home,  and  I  am  looking  forward  with 
pleasurable  anticipation  to  seeing  it.  Ordinary  life 
there  in  a  hot  cantonment  must  be  pretty  dull,  though, 
from  what  I  hear,  people  enjoy  it  much  more  than 
you  would  think  possible.  But  at  a  time  like  the  pres- 
ent it  will  be  full  of  interest  and  excitement." 

"  You  will  write  to  us  sometimes,  I  hope,"  Sir 
John  said,  when  Mallett  rose  to  leave. 

"I  won't  promise  to  write  often,  Sir  John.  I  ex- 
pect that  we  shall  be  generally  on  the  move,  perhaps 
without  tents  of  any  kind,  and  to  write  on  one's  knee, 
seated  round  a  bivouac  fire,  with  a  dozen  fellows  all 
laughing  and  talking  round,  would  be  a  hopeless  task; 
but  if  at  any  time  we  are  halted  at  a  place  where 
writing  is  possible,  I  will  certainly  do  so.  I  have  but 
few  friends  in  England — at  any  rate,  only  men,  who 
never  think  of  expecting  a  letter.  And  as  you  are 
among  my  very  oldest  and  dearest  friends,  it  will  be 
a  pleasure  for  me  to  let  you  know  how  I  am  getting 
on,  and  to  be  sure  that  you  will  feel  an  interest  in  my 
doings." 


20  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

There  was  a  warm  good-bye,  and  all  went  to  the 
door  for  a  few  last  words.  Frank's  portmanteau  was 
already  in  the  dog-cart,  for  he  had  arranged  to  drive 
straight  from  Greendale  to  Chippenham,  where  he  would 
dine  at  an  hotel  and  then  go  on  by  the  mail  to  Exe- 
ter. It  was  three  o'clock  when  he  drove  into  the  bar- 
racks there.  Early  as  the  hour  was,  the  troops  were 
already  up  and  busy;  wagons  were  being  loaded,  the 
long  lines  of  windows  were  all  lighted  up,  and  in  every 
room  men  could  be  seen  moving  about.  He  drove 
across  the  barrack  yard  to  his  own  quarters,  left  his 
portmanteau  there,  and  then  walked  to  the  messroom. 
As  he  had  expected,  he  found  several  officers  there. 

"  Ah,  Mallett,  there  you  are ;  you  are  the  last  in ; 
the  others  all  turned  up  by  the  evening  train,  but 
we  thought  that  as  you  were  comparatively  near  you 
would  come  on  by  the  mail." 

"  I  thought  I  should  find  some  of  you  fellows  keep- 
ing it  up." 

"  Well,  there  was  nothing  else  to  do ;  there  won't 
be  much  chance  of  going  to  sleep.  We  all  dined  in 
the  town,  for  of  course  the  mess  plate  and  kit  have 
been  packed  up.  We  are  not  taking  much  with  us 
now,  just  enough  to  make  shift  with.  The  rest  will 
be  sent  round  to  Calcutta,  to  be  stored  there  till  we 
settle  down.  The  men  had  a  dinner  given  to  them  by 
the  town,  and  as  they  all  got  leave  out  till  twelve 
o'clock  and  the  loading  of  the  wagons  began  at  two, 
there  has  been  a  row  going  on  all  night.  Most  of  us 
played  pool  till  an  hour  ago,  then  we  gradually  dropped 
off  for  an  hour's  snooze." 

"  There  will  be  a  chance  of  getting  breakfast,  I 
hope?" 

"  Yes,  there  is  to  be  a  rough  and  tumble  break- 
fast at  a  quarter  to  five;  we  fall  in  at  a  quarter  past. 
We  got  through  the  inspection  of  kits  yesterday;  the 
mess  sergeant  and  a  party  will  pack  up  the  breakfast 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  21 

things,  and  the  pots  and  pans  will  come  on  by  the  next 
train.  There  is  one  at  eight;  it  will  be  in  plenty  of 
time,  as  I  don't  suppose  the  transport  will  be  off  until 
the  afternoon,  perhaps  not  till  night.  There  are  al- 
ways delays  at  the  last  moment.  However,  it  will  be 
something  to  be  on  board  ship;  that  is  the  first  step 
towards  getting  at  those  black  scoundrels.  We  are  all 
afraid  that  we  shall  be  late  for  Delhi;  still  there  is 
plenty  of  other  work  to  be  done." 

"  Any  ladies  with  us  ?  " 

"  No,  there  was  a  general  agreement  among  the 
married  officers  that  they  had  best  be  left  behind.  So 
for  once  the  regiment  goes  without  women." 

"  There  is  a  levity  about  your  tone  that  I  do  not 
approve  of,  Armstrong,"  Frank  Mallett  said,  reprov- 
ingly. "  There  were  no  women  when  we  went  out  to 
the  Crimea,  at  the  time  when  you  were  a  good  little 
boy  doing  Latin  exercises." 

"  Well,  altogether  it  is  a  good  thing,  Mallett,  and 
we  shall  be  much  more  comfortable  without  them." 

"  Speak  for  yourself,  Armstrong ;  lads  of  your  age 
who  can  talk  nothing  but  barrack  slang,  and  are  emi- 
nently uncomfortable  when  they  have  to  chat  for  five 
minutes  to  a  lady,  are  naturally  glad  when  they  are 
free  from  the  restraint  of  having  to  talk  like  reason- 
able beings,  but  it  is  not  so  with  older  and  wiser 
men.  How  about  Marshall  ?  " 

"  He  has  been  away  on  leave  for  the  last  ten  days. 
He  has  not  come  back  here.  There  have  been  two 
fellows  inquiring  after  him  diligently  for  the  last 
week;  there  was  no  mistaking  their  errand,  even  if  we 
did  not  know  how  he  stood.  I  expect  he  is  on  board 
the  transport ;  I  fancy  the  Colonel  gave  him  a  hint  to 
join  there.  No  doubt  the  Jews  will  be  on  the  look. out 
for  him  at  Plymouth,  as  well  as  here;  but  he  will 
manage  to  smuggle  himself  on  board  somehow,  even 
if  he  has  to  wrap  up  as  an  old  woman." 


22  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  He  deserves  all  the  trouble  that  has  fallen  upon 
him,"  Frank  Mallett  said,  angrily.  "  I  have  no  pa- 
tience with  a  young  fool  who  bets  on  race  horses  when 
he  knows  very  well  that  if  they  lose  there  is  nothing 
for  him  to  do  but  to  go  to  the  Jews  for  money.  How- 
ever, he  has  had  a  sharp  lesson,  and  as  it  is  likely 
enough  that  the  regiment  won't  be  back  in  England 
for  years,  he  will  have  a  chance  of  getting  straight 
again.  This  affair  has  been  a  godsend  for  him,  for 
had  he  remained  in  England  there  would  have  been 
nothing  for  him  to  do  but  to  sell  out." 

So  they  chatted  until  the  mess  waiters  laid  the  table 
for  breakfast,  when  the  other  officers  came  pouring 
in.  The  meal  was  eaten  hastily,  for  the  assembly  was 
sounding  in  the  barrack  yard.  As  soon  as  breakfast 
was  finished,  the  officers  went  out  and  took  their  places 
with  their  companies.  There  was  a  brief  inspection, 
then  the  drums  and  fifes  set  up  "  The  Girl  I  left  behind 
me,"  and  the  regiment  marched  off  to  the  station,  the 
streets  being  already  full  of  people  who  had  got  up  to 
see  the  last  of  them,  and  to  wish  them  God-speed  in 
the  work  of  death  they  were  going  to  perform. 

The  baggage  was  already  in  the  train  that  was  wait- 
ing for  them  in  the  station,  and  in  a  few  minutes  it 
steamed  away,  the  soldiers  hanging  far  out  of  every 
window  to  wave  a  last  good-bye  to  the  weeping  women 
who  thronged  the  platform.  Two  hours  later  they 
reached  Plymouth,  marched  through  the  town  to  the 
dockyard,  and  went  straight  on  board  the  transport. 
There  was  the  usual  confusion  until  the  cabins  had 
been  allotted,  portmanteaus  stowed  away,  and  the  gen- 
eral baggage  lowered  into  the  hold;  a  tedious  wait 
of  three  or  four  hours  followed,  no  one  exactly  knew 
why,  and  then  the  paddle  wheels  began  to  revolve.  The 
men  burst  into  a  loud  cheer,  and  a  few  minutes  later 
they  passed  Drake's  Island  and  headed  down  the  sound. 

They  had,  as  expected,  found  young  Marshall  on 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  23 

board.  He  kept  below  until  they  started,  although 
told  that  there  was  little  chance  of  the  bailiffs  being 
permitted  to  enter  the  dockyard.  As  he  had  the  grace 
to  feel  thoroughly  ashamed  of  his  position,  little  was 
said  to  him;  but  the  manner  of  the  senior  officers  was 
sufficient  to  make  him  feel  their  strong  disapproval 
of  the  position  in  which  he  had  placed  himself  by  his 
folly. 

"  I  have  taken  a  solemn  oath  never  to  bet  again," 
he  said  that  evening  to  Captain  Mallett,  who  was  a 
general  favourite  with  the  younger  officers,  "  and  I 
mean  to  keep  it." 

"  How  much  do  you  owe,  young  'un  ?  " 

"  Four  hundred  and  fifty.  What  with  allowances 
and  so  on,  I  ought  to  be  able  to  pay  it  off  in  three  or 
four  years." 

"  Yes,  and  if  you  keep  your  word,  Marshall,  some 
of  us  may  be  inclined  to  help  you;  I  will  for  one. 
I  would  have  done  so  before,  but  to  give  money  to  a 
fool  is  worse  than  throwing  it  into  the  sea.  As  soon 
as  you  show  us  by  deeds,  not  words,  that  you  really 
mean  to  keep  straight,  you  will  find  that  you  are  not 
without  friends." 

"  Thank  you  awfully,  Mallett,  but  I  don't  want  to 
be  helped.  I  will  clear  it  off  myself  if  I  live." 

"  You  will  find  it  hard  work  to  do  that,  Marshall, 
even  in  India.  Of  course,  the  pay  and  allowances 
make  it  easy  for  even  a  subaltern  to  live  on  his  in- 
come there,  but  when  it  comes  to  laying  by  much, 
that  is  a  difficult  matter.  However,  so  long  as  the 
actual  campaign  lasts,  the  necessary  expenses  will  be 
rery  small.  We  shall  live  principally  on  our  rations, 
and  you  can  put  by  a  good  bit;  there  may  be  a  certain 
amount  of  prize  money,  for,  although  there  is  nothing 
to  be  got  from  the  mutineers  themselves,  some  of  the 
native  princes  who  have  joined  them  will  no  doubt 
have  to  pay  heavily  for  their  share  in  the  business." 


24  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  Well,  you  won't  give  me  up,  will  you,  Mallett  ? " 

"  Certainly  not.  I  was  as  hard  as  anyone  on  you 
before,  for  I  have  no  patience  with  such  insane  folly, 
but  if  you  keep  straight  no  one  will  be  more  inclined 
to  make  things  easy  for  you." 

The  voyage  to  Alexandria  was  unmarked  by  any 
incident.  Drill  went  on  regularly,  and  life  differed 
to  no  great  extent  from  that  in  barracks.  All  were 
glad  when  the  half-way  stage  of  the  journey  was 
reached,  but  still  more  so  when  they  embarked  in  an- 
other transport  at  Suez.  Here  they  learned,  accord- 
ing to  news  that  had  arrived  on  the  previous  day,  that 
at  the  end  of  August  Delhi  was  still  holding  out,  and 
that,  although  reinforcements  had  reached  the  British, 
vastly  greater  numbers  of  men  had  entered  the  city, 
and  that  constant  sorties  were  made  against  the  British 
position  on  the  Ridge.  Excitement  therefore  was  at 
its  highest,  when  on  the  20th  of  October  a  pilot  came 
on  board  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hooghly,  and  they  learned 
that  the  assault  had  been  made  on  the  14th  of  Sep- 
tember, and  that,  after  desperate  fighting  extending 
over  a  week,  the  city  had  been  captured,  the  puppet 
Emperor  made  prisoner,  and  the  rebels  driven  with 
tremendous  loss  across  the  bridge  of  boats  over  the 
Jumma. 

The  satisfaction  with  which  the  news  was  received, 
in  spite  of  the  disappointment  that  they  had  arrived 
too  late  to  share  in  the  victory,  was  damped  by  the 
news  of  the  heavy  losses  sustained  in  the  assault,  and 
especially  that  of  that  most  gallant  soldier,  General 
Nicholson.  Nor  were  their  hopes  that  they  might  take 
part  in  the  relief  of  Lucknow  realised,  for  they  learned 
that  on  the  25th  of  September  the  place  had  been 
relieved  by  Havelock  and  Outram.  Here,  however, 
there  was  still  a  prospect  that  they  might  take  a  share 
in  the  serious  fighting,  as  the  losses  of  the  relieving 
column  had  been  so  heavy  and  the  force  of  mutineers 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  25 

so  large,  that  it  had  been  found  impracticable  to  carry 
off  the  garrison  as  intended,  and  the  relieving  forces 
were  now  themselves  besieged.  There  was,  however,  no 
fear  felt  for  their  safety.  If  the  scanty  original  garri- 
son had  defied  all  the  efforts  of  the  mutineers,  no  one 
doubted  that,  now  that  their  force  was  trebled,  they 
would  succeed  in  defending  themselves  until  an  army 
sufficiently  strong  to  bring  them  off  could  be  assem- 
bled. 

Not  a  day  was  lost  at  Calcutta.  General  Sir  Colin 
Campbell,  who  was  now  in  supreme  command,  was  col- 
lecting a  force  at  Cawnpore.  There  he  had  already 
been  joined  by  a  column  which  had  been  despatched 
from  Delhi  as  soon  as  the  capital  fell,  and  by  a  strong 
naval  brigade  with  heavy  guns  from  the  ships  of  war. 

All  arrangements  had  been  made  for  pushing  up 
reinforcements  as  fast  as  they  arrived,  and  the  troops 
were  marched  from  the  side  of  the  ship  to  a  spot  where 
a  flotilla  of  boats  was  in  readiness.  The  men  only 
took  what  they  could  carry;  all  other  baggage  was  to 
be  sent  after  them  by  water,  and  to  lie,  until  further 
instructions,  at  Allahabad.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  the 
troops  had  been  packed  away  in  the  boats,  they  were 
taken  in  tow  by  two  steamers,  and  at  once  taken  up 
the  river.  Officers  and  men  were  alike  in  the  highest 
spirits  at  finding  themselves  in  so  short  a  time  after 
their  arrival  already  on  the  way  to  the  front,  and  their 
excitement  was  added  to  by  the  fact  that  it  was  still 
doubtful  whether  they  would  arrive  in  time  to  join 
the  column.  Cramped  as  the  men  were  in  the  crowded 
boats,  there  was  no  murmuring  as  day  after  day,  and 
night  after  night,  they  continued  their  course  up  the 
river. 

At  Patna  they  learned  that  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  was  still  at  Cawnpore,  and  the  same  welcome 
news  was  obtained  at  Allahabad ;  but  at  the  latter  place 
they  learned  that  the  news  of  his  having  gone  for- 


26  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

ward  was  hourly  expected.  They  reached  Cawnpore 
on  the  morning  of  the  llth,  and  learned  that  the  col- 
umn had  left  on  the  9th,  but  was  halting  at  Buntara. 
Not  a  moment  was  lost;  each  man  received  six  days' 
provisions  from  the  commissariat  stores,  and  two  hours 
after  landing  the  regiment  was  on  the  march  and  ar- 
rived late  at  night  at  Buntara,  being  received  with 
hearty  cheers  by  the  troops  assembled  there.  They 
learned  that  they  were  to  go  forward  on  the  following 
morning.  Weary,  but  in  high  spirits  at  finding  that 
they  had  arrived  in  time,  the  regiment  lighted  its  fires 
and  bivouacked. 

"  This  has  been  a  close  shave  indeed,  Mallett,"  one 
of  the  other  captains  said,  as  a  party  of  them  sat 
round  a  fire.  "  We  won  by  a  short  head." 

"  Short  indeed,  Ackers ;  it  has  been  a  race  all  the 
way  from  England,  and  it  is  marvellous  indeed  that 
we  should  arrive  just  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  re- 
lief of  Lucknow.  A  day  later  and  we  should  have 
missed  it." 

"We  should  not  have  done  that,  Mallett,  for  the 
men  would  have  marched  all  night,  and,  if  necessary, 
all  day  to-morrow,  to  catch  up.  Still,  it  is  a  wonder- 
ful fluke  that  after  all  we  should  be  in  time." 

"  There  is  no  doubt  that  it  will  be  a  tough  busi- 
ness," one  of  the  majors  said.  "  Havelock  found  it 
so,  and  I  expect  that  the  lesson  he  taught  them  hasn't 
been  lost,  and  that  we  shall  have  to  meet  greater  diffi- 
culties than  even  he  had." 

"  Yes,  but  look  at  our  force.  Sixteen  guns  of  Horse 
Artillery,  a  heavy  field  battery,  and  the  Naval  Brigade 
with  eight  guns,  the  9th  Lancers,  the  Punjaub  Cav- 
alry, and  Hodson's  Horse,  four  British  regiments  of 
infantry  and  two  of  Punjaubies,  besides  a  column 
1,500  strong  which  is  expected  to  join  us  to-morrow  or 
next  day.  I  hope  in  any  case,  Major,  that  we  shan't 
follow  the  line  Havelock  took  through  the  narrow 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  27 

streets,  for  there  we  cannot  use  our  strength,  but  will 
manage  to  approach  the  Residency  from  some  other 
direction.  We  know  that  it  stands  near  the  river  and 
at  the  very  edge  of  the  town,  so  there  ought  to  be  some 
other  way  of  getting  at  it.  I  consider  that  we  are  a 
match  for  any  number  of  these  scoundrels  if  we  do 
but  get  a  fair  ground  for  fighting,  which  we  certainly 
should  not  do  in  the  streets  of  the  town." 

"  I  don't  care  how  it  is,  so  that  we  do  get  at  them," 
another  officer  said.  "  We  have  heard  such  frightful 
details  of  their  atrocities  as  we  came  up  that  one  is 
burning  to  get  at  close  quarters  with  them.  I  sup- 
pose we  shall  go  to  the  Alumbagh  first,  and  relieve 
the  force  that  has  so  long  been  shut  up  there.  I  only 
hope  that  we  shan't  be  chosen  to  take  their  place." 

There  was  a  general  exclamation  of  disgust  at  the 
suggestion. 

"  Well,  some  one  must  stay,  you  know,"  he  went 
on  in  deprecation  of  the  epithets  hurled  at  him,  "  and 
why  not  our  regiment  as  well  as  any  other  ? " 

"  Because  I  cannot  believe  that  after  luck  has 
favoured  us  so  long  she  will  play  us  such  a  trick  now," 
Frank  Mallett  said.  "  Besides,  the  other  regiments 
have  done  something  in  the  way  of  fighting  already 
while  we  have  not  fired  a  shot,  and  I  think  that  Sir 
Colin  would  be  more  likely  to  choose  the  75th,  or,  in 
fact,  any  of  the  other  regiments  than  us.  Still  if  the 
worst  comes  to  the  worst  we  must  not  grumble;  other 
regiments  have  had  weary  times  of  waiting,  and  it 
may  be  our  turn  now.  Your  suggestion  has  come  as 
a  damper  to  our  spirits,  and,  as  I  don't  mind  acknowl- 
edging that  I  am  dog-tired  with  the  march,  after  not 
having  used  my  legs  for  the  last  seven  or  eight  weeks, 
I  shall  try  to  forget  it  by  going  off  to  sleep." 

Making  a  pillow  of  his  cloak,  he  lay  down  on  the 
spot  where  he  was  sitting,  his  example  being  speedily 
followed  by  the  rest  of  the  officers.  The  next  morning 


28  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

the  troops  were  on  the  march  early,  but  they  were  not 
to  reach  the  Alumbagh  without  opposition,  for  on 
passing  a  little  fort  to  the  right  they  were  suddenly 
attacked  by  a  small  body  of  rebels  posted  round  it. 

But  little  time  was  lost.  Hodson's  Horse,  who 
were  nearest  to  them,  at  once  made  a  brilliant  charge, 
scattering  them  in  all  directions.  A  short  pause  was 
made  while  the  fort  was  dismantled,  and  then  the  col- 
umn proceeded  without  further  interruption  to  the 
Alumbagh.  There  was  some  disappointment  at  its 
appearance;  instead  of  finding,  as  they  had  expected, 
a  palace,  there  was  nothing  but  a  large  garden  en- 
closed by  a  lofty  wall,  and  having  a  small  mosque  at 
one  end.  It  had  evidently  been  a  place  of  retirement 
when  the  Kings  of  Oude  desired  to  get  away  from  the 
bustle  and  ceremony  of  the  great  town. 

The  Commander-in-Chief  was  thoroughly  acquaint- 
ed with  the  situation  in  the  city  by  information  that 
he  had  received  from  a  civilian  named  Kavanagh,  who 
had  at  immense  risk  made  his  way  out  from  the  Resi- 
dency, and  was  able  to  furnish  plans  of  all  the  prin- 
cipal buildings  and  the  route,  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
Brigadier-General  Inglis,  was  the  most  favourable  for 
the  attack. 

In  the  evening  the  reinforcements  arrived,  bring- 
ing up  the  total  force  to  5,000.  When  the  orders  were 
issued,  the  officers  of  the  — th  found  to  their  intense 
satisfaction  that  as  Captain  Mallett  had  thought  likely, 
the  75th  was  selected  to  remain  in  charge  of  the  bag- 
gage at  the  Alumbagh.  The  force  moved  off  early  on 
the  morning  of  the  14th,  but,  after  marching  a  short 
distance  along  the  direct  road  followed  by  Havelock, 
struck  off  to  the  right,  and,  keeping  well  away  from 
the  city,  came  down  upon  the  summer  palace  of  the 
Kings  of  Oude,  called  the  Dilkoosha.  It  stood  on  an 
eminence  commanding  a  view  of  the  whole  of  the 
eastern  suburbs  of  the  town,  and  was  surrounded  by  a 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  29 

large  park.  As  soon  as  the  head  of  the  column  ap- 
proached this,  a  heavy  musketry  fire  broke  out,  and 
it  was  at  once  evident  that  their  movements  had  been 
watched  and  the  object  of  their  march  divined.  The 
head  of  the  column  was  halted  for  a  few  minutes  until 
reinforcements  came  up.  Then  they  formed  into  line, 
the  artillery  opened  on  their  flanks,  and  with  a  cheer 
the  troops  advanced  to  the  attack. 

"  The  beggars  cannot  shoot  a  bit,"  Frank  Mallett 
said  to  his  subaltern,  Armstrong.  "I  expect  they  are 
Sepoys,  for  the  Oude  tribesmen  are  said  to  be  good 
marksmen." 

Keeping  up  a  rolling  fire  at  the  loopholes  in  the 
walls,  the  infantry  pressed  forward.  The  fire  of  the 
enemy  slackened  as  they  approached,  and  they  soon 
forced  their  way  in,  some  helping  their  comrades  over 
the  wall,  others  breaking  down  a  gate  and  so  pouring 
in.  A  halt  was  made  until  the  greater  portion  of  the 
troops  came  up,  and  then  the  advance  was  continued. 

The  defenders  of  the  wall  had  been  considerably 
reinforced  by,  troops  stationed  round  the  Palace  itself, 
but  they  were  unable  to  withstand  the  British  advance, 
and  soon  began  to  retreat  towards  the  city,  stopping 
occasionally  where  a  wall  or  building  offered  facilities 
for  defence,  but  never  waiting  long  enough  for  the 
British  to  get  at  them.  In  two  hours  all  had  been 
driven  down  the  hill  to  the  Martiniere  College.  Here 
again  they  made  a  stand,  but  were  speedily  driven 
out,  and  chased  through  the  garden  and  park  of  the  col- 
lege and  thence  across  the  canal  into  the  streets  of 
the  town.  Here  the  pursuit  ceased,  the  — th  being  told 
off  to  hold  the  Martiniere  as  an  advanced  position. 
Sir  Colin  established  his  headquarters  at  the  Dil- 
koosha,  the  rest  of  the  troops  bivouacking  around  it  or 
on  the  slope  of  the  hill  between  it  and  the  college. 

After  seeing  that  the  men  were  comfortable,  and 
getting  some  food,  most  of  the  officers  gathered  on  the 
3 


30  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

flat  roof  of  the  college,  whence  a  fine  view  was  obtain- 
able over  the  town.  The  Residency  had  been  already 
pointed  out  to  them,  and  the  British  flag  could  be  seen 
floating  above  it.  Several  very  large  buildings,  sur- 
rounded for  the  most  part  with  walled  gardens,  rose 
above  the  low  roofs  of  the  native  houses  in  the  inter- 
vening space. 

"  The  way  is  pretty  open.  A  good  deal  of  the 
ground  seems  to  be  occupied  with  gardens,  and  most 
of  the  houses  are  so  small  that  they  could  not  hold 
many  men." 

"  I  agree  with  you,  Mallett.  It  is  evident  that  we 
shall  be  passing  through  an  open  suburb  rather  than 
the  town  itself.  Those  big  buildings,  if  held  in  force, 
will  give  us  a  good  deal  of  trouble.  They  are  regular 
fortresses." 

"  I  don't  think  that  any  of  them  are  built  of  stone. 
They  all  seem  to  be  whitewashed." 

"  That  is  so,"  the  Major  agreed,  as  he  examined 
them  through  his  field-glass.  "  I  suppose  stone  is 
scarce  in  this  neighbourhood,  but  it  is  probable  that 
the  walls  are  of  brickwork,  and  very  thick.  They  will 
have  to  be  regularly  breached  before  we  can  carry 
them.  It  makes  one  sad  to  think  that  that  flag,  which 
has  waved  over  the  Residency  for  the  last  five  months, 
defying  all  the  efforts  of  enormously  superior  num- 
bers, is  to  come  down,  and  that  these  scoundrels  will 
be  able  to  exult  in  the  possession  of  the  place  that  has 
defied  all  their  efforts  to  take  it;  still  one  feels  that 
Sir  Colin's  decision  is  a  necessary  one.  It  would  never 
do  to  have  six  or  seven  thousand  men  shut  up  there, 
when  there  is  urgent  work  to  be  done  in  a  score  of 
other  places.  Besides,  it  would  need  a  vast  magazine 
of  provisions  to  maintain  them.  Our  force,  even  when 
joined  by  the  garrison,  would  be  wholly  inadequate  for 
so  tremendous  a  task  as  reducing  to  submission  a  city 
containing  at  least  half-a-million  inhabitants,  together 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  31 

with  thirty  or  forty  thousand  mutineers  and  a  host  of 
Oude's  best  men,  with  the  advantage  of  the  possession 
of  a  score  or  two  of  buildings,  all  of  which  are  positive 
fortresses." 

"  No,  there  is  nothing  for  it  but  to  fall  back  again 
till  we  have  a  force  sufficient  to  capture  the  whole  city, 
and  utterly  defeat  its  defenders.  With  us  away,  this 
place  will  become  the  focus  of  the  mutiny.  Half  the 
fugitives  from  Delhi  will  find  their  way  here,  and  at 
last  we  shall  be  able  to  crush  them  at  one  blow,  instead 
of  having  to  scour  the  country  for  them  for  months. 
The  more  of  them  gather  here  the  better;  and  then, 
when  we  do  capture  the  place,  there  will  be  an  end  of 
the  mutiny,  though,  of  course,  there  will  still  be  the 
work  of  hunting  down  scattered  bands." 

"  We  may  look  forward  to  very  much  harder  work 
to-morrow  than  we  have  had  to-day,"  Captain  John- 
son said.  "  With  these  glasses  I  can  make  out  that 
the  place  is  crowded  with  men.  Of  course,  to-day  we 
took  them  somewhat  by  surprise,  as  they  would  natu- 
rally expect  us  to  follow  Havelock's  line.  But  now 
that  they  know  what  our  real  intentions  are,  they  will 
be  able  to  mass  their  whole  force  to  oppose  us." 

"  So  much  the  better,"  Frank  Mallett  said.  "  There 
is  no  mistaking  the  feeling  of  the  troops.  They  are 
burning  to  avenge  Cawnpore,  and  little  mercy  will  be 
shown  the  rebels  who  fall  into  their  hands." 

"I  should  advise  any  of  you  gentlemen  who  want 
to  write  home,"  the  Colonel  said,  gravely,  "to  do  so 
this  evening.  There  is  no  doubt  that  we  shall  take 
those  places,  but  I  think  that  there  is  also  no  doubt 
that  our  death-roll  will  be  heavy.  You  must  not  judge 
by  their  fighting  to-day  of  the  stand  that  they  are  likely 
to  make  to-morrow.  They  know  well  enough  that  they 
irill  get  no  quarter  after  what  has  taken  place,  and 
will  fight  desperately  to  the  end." 

Most  of  the  officers  took  his  advice.    Captain  Mai- 


32  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

lett  sat  down  on  the  parapet,  took  out  a  note-book,  and 
wrote  in  pencil: 

"  DEAR  SIR  JOHN  :  Although  it  is  but  four  days 
since  I  posted  you  a  long  letter  from  Cawnpore  that  I 
had  written  on  our  way  up  the  river,  I  think  it  as  well 
to  write  a  few  lines  in  pencil.  %  You  will  not  get  them 
unless  1  go  down  to-morrow,  as  I  shall  of  course  tear 
them  up  if  I  get  through  all  right.  I  am  writing  now 
within  sight  of  the  Residency.  We  had  a  bit  of  a  fight 
to-day,  but  the  rebels  did  not  make  any  serious  stand; 
to-morrow  it  will  be  different,  for  we  shall  have  to 
fight  our  way  through  the  town,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  resistance  will  be  very  obstinate.  I  have  noth- 
ing to  add  to  what  I  wrote  to  you  last.  What  I  should 
like  you  to  know  is  that  I  thought  of  you  all  this  even- 
ing, and  that  I  send  you  and  Lady  Greendale  and 
Bertha  my«  best  wishes  for  your  long  life  and  happi- 
ness. Yours  most  sincerely, 

"  FRANK  MALLETT." 

He  tore  the  page  from  his  note-book,  put  it  in  an 
envelope  and  directed  it,  then  placed  it  in  an  inner 
pocket  of  his  uniform. 

"  So  you  are  not  writing,  Marshall,"  he  said,  as  he 
went  across  to  the  young  ensign  who  was  sitting  on 
the  angle  of  the  parapet. 

"  I  have  no  one  particular  to  write  to,  Captain  Mal- 
lett,  and  the  only  persons  who  will  feel  any  severe 
sorrow  if  I  fall  to-morrow  are  my  creditors." 

"  We  should  all  be  sorry,  Marshall,  very  sorry ; 
ever  since  we  sailed  from  Plymouth  your  conduct  has 
shown  that  you  have  determined  to  retrieve  your  pre- 
vious folly;  the  Colonel  himself  spoke  to  me  about  it 
the  other  day,  and  remarked  that  he  had  every  hope 
that  you  would  turn  out  a  steady  and  useful  officer. 
We  have  all  noticed  that  beyond  the  regular  allowance 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  33 

of  wine  you  have  drunk  nothing,  and  that  you  did  not 
touch  a  card  throughout  the  voyage." 

"  I  have  not  spent  a  penny  since  I  went  on  board 
at  Plymouth,"  the  lad  said.  "  I  got  the  paymaster  to 
give  me  an  order  on  London  for  the  amount  of  pay  due 
to  me  the  day  we  got  to  Cawnpore,  and  posted  it  to 
Morrison;  so  he  has  got  some  fifteen  pounds  out  of 
the  fire.  Of  course  it  is  not  much,  but  at  any  rate  it 
will  show  him  I  mean  to  pay  up  honestly." 

"  Well  done,  lad ;  you  are  quite  right  to  give  up 
cards,  and  to  cut  yourself  off  liquors  beyond  the 
Queen's  allowance,  but  don't  stint  yourself  in  neces- 
saries. For  instance,  fruit  is  necessary  here,  and  of 
course  when  we  once  get  into  settled  quarters,  you 
must  keep  a  horse  of  some  sort,  as  everyone  else  will 
do  so.  How  much  did  you  really  have  from  Morrison 
in  cash?" 

"  Three  hundred ;  for  which  I  gave  him  bills  for 
four  fifty  and  a  lien  on  my  commission." 

"  All  right,  lad,  I  will  write  to  my  solicitor  in  Lon- 
don, and  get  him  to  see  Morrison,  and  ask  him  to 
meet  you  fairly  in  the  matter.  He  will  know  that  it 
will  be  years  before  you  are  likely  to  be  in  England 
again,  and  that  if  you  are  killed  he  will  lose  altogether ; 
to  under  these  circumstances  I  have  no  doubt  that  he 
will  be  glad  enough  to  make  a  considerable  abatement, 
perhaps  to  content  himself  with  the  sum  that  you  really 
had  from  him." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  my  letter,  with  the  enclosure, 
assuring  him  that  I  will  in  time  pay  the  amount  due, 
will  harden  his  heart,"  Marshall  laughed.  "  I  am  much 
obliged  all  the  same,  but  I  don't  think  that  it  will  be 
of  any  use." 

However,  on  leaving  him,  Mallett  went  downstairs, 
borrowed  some  ink  from  the  quartermaster,  and  wrote 
to  his  solicitor,  enclosing  a  cheque  for  £300,  with  in- 
structions to  see  the  money-lender. 


34  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  You  will  find  that  he  will  be  glad  enough  to  kand 
oyer  young  Marshall's  bills  for  four  fifty  for  that 
amount,"  he  said ;  "  he  has  already  Had  fifteen  pounds, 
which  is  a  fair  interest  for  the  three  hundred  for  the 
time  the  lad  has  had  it.  He  will  know  well  enough 
that  if  Marshall  dies  he  will  lose  every  penny,  and 
that  at  any  rate  he  will  have  to  wait  many  years  before 
he  can  get  it.  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  would  jump  at 
an  offer  of  a  couple  of  hundred,  but  it  is  just  as  well 
that  the  young  fellow  should  feel  the  obligation  for 
some  time,  and  as  the  man  did  lend  him  the  money  it 
would  be  unfair  that  he  should  be  an  absolute  loser." 


CHAPTER  in. 

THE  next  morning  three  days'  rations  were  served 
out  to  the  troops  and  the  advance  begun,  the  move- 
ment being  directed  against  the  Secunderbagh,  a  large 
garden  surrounded  by  a  very  high  and  strong  wall  loop- 
holed  for  musketry.  To  reach  it,  a  village,  fortified 
and  strongly  held,  had  first  to  be  carried.  The  attack 
was  led  by  Brigadier  Hope's  brigade,  of  which  the 
regiment  formed  part.  As  they  approached  the  village, 
so  heavy  a  musketry  fire  was  opened  upon  them  that 
the  order  to  advance  was  changed  and  the  leading 
regiment  moved  forward  in  skirmishing  order.  The 
horse  artillery  and  heavy  field  guns  were  brought  up 
and  poured  a  tremendous  fire  into  the  village,  driving 
the  defenders  from  their  post  on  the  walls. 

As  soon  as  this  was  accomplished,  the  infantry 
rushed  forward  and  stormed  the  village,  the  enemy 
opposing  a  stout  resistance,  occupying  the  houses  and 
fighting  to  the  last.  The  main  body  of  them,  how- 
ever, fled  to  the  Secunderbagh.  The  4th  Sikhs  had 
been  ordered  to  lead  the  attack,  while  the  British  in- 
fantry of  the  brigade  were  to  cover  the  operation.  The 
men  were,  however,  too  excited  and  too  eager  to  get 
at  the  enemy  to  remain  inactive,  and  on  leaving  the 
village  dashed  forward  side  by  side  with  the  Sikhs  and 
attacked  the  wall.  There  was  a  small  breach  in  this, 
and  many  of  the  men  rushed  through  it  before  the 
enemy,  taken  by  surprise,  could  offer  a  serious  re- 
sistance. The  entrance  was,  however,  so  narrow  that 
very  few  men  could  pass  in,  and  while  a  furious  fight 

35 


36  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

was  raging  inside,  the  rest  of  the  troops  tried  in  vain 
to  find  some  means  of  entering.  There  were  two  barred 
windows,  one  on  each  side  of  the  gate,  and  some  of 
the  troopers  creeping  under  these  raised  their  shakos 
on  their  bayonets.  The  defenders  fired  a  heavy  vol- 
ley into  them,  and  the  soldiers,  leaping  to  their  feet, 
sprang  at  the  bars  and  pulled  them  down  by  main 
force,  before  the  defenders  had  time  to  reload;  then 
they  leaped  down  inside,  others  followed  them,  the 
gates  were  opened  and  the  main  body  of  troops 
poured  in. 

The  garden  was  held  by  2,000  mutineers.  With 
shouts  of  "  Remember  Cawnpore,"  the  troops  flung 
themselves  upon  them;  and  although  the  mutineers 
fought  desperately,  and  the  struggle  was  continued  for 
a  considerable  time,  every  man  was  at  last  shot  or 
bayonetted.  In  the  meantime  a  serious  struggle  was 
going  on  close  by.  Nearly  facing  the  Secunderbagh 
stood  the  large  Mosque  of  Shah  Nujeeff.  It  had  a 
domed  roof,  with  a  loop-holed  parapet  and  four  mina- 
rets, which  were  filled  with  riflemen.  It  stood  in  a 
large  garden  surrounded  by  a  high  wall,  also  loop- 
holed,  the  entrance  being  blocked  up  with  solid  mason- 
ry. The  fire  from  this  building  had  seriously  galled 
Hope's  division,  while  engaged  in  forcing  its  way  into 
the  Secunderbagh,  and  Captain  Peel,  with  the  Naval 
Brigade,  brought  up  the  heavy  guns  against  it.  He 
took  up  his  position  within  a  few  yards  of  the  wall 
and  opened  a  heavy  fire,  assisted  by  that  of  a  mortar  bat- 
tery and  a  field  battery  of  Bengal  Artillery,  the  High- 
landers covering  the  sailors  and  artillerymen  as  they 
worked  their  guns,  by  a  tremendous  fire  upon  the  ene- 
my's loop-holes.  So  massive  were  the  walls  that  it  was 
several  hours  before  even  the  sixty-eight  pounders  of 
the  Naval  Brigade  succeeded  in  effecting  a  breach. 

As  soon  as  this  was  done  the  impatient  infantry 
were  ordered  to  the  assault,  and  rushing  in,  overpow- 


THE   QUEEN'S  CUP.  37 

ered  all  resistance,  and  slew  all  within  the  enclosure, 
save  a  few  who  effected  their  escape  by  leaping  from 
the  wall  at  the  rear.  It  was  now  late  in  the  afternoon, 
and  operations  ceased  for  the  day.  The  buildings  on 
which  the  enemy  had  chiefly  relied  for  their  defence 
had  been  captured,  and  the  difficulties  still  to  be  en- 
countered were  comparatively  small.  The  next  day 
an  attack  was  made  upon  a  strong  building  known 
as  the  Mess  House;  this  was  first  breached  by  the 
artillery,  and  then  carried  by  assault  by  the  53rd  and 
90th  regiments,  and  a  detachment  of  Sikhs,  the  latter, 
single-handed,  storming  another  building  called  the 
Observatory,  in  the  rear  of  the  Mess  House.  At  the 
same  time  the  garrison  of  the  Residency  had,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  plan  brought  out  by  Jiavanagh, 
begun  operations  on  their  side.  The  capture  of  the 
Secunderbagh  and  Mosque  had  been  signalled  to  them, 
and  while  the  attack  on  the  Mess  House  was  being 
carried  out  they  had  blown  down  the  outer  wall  of 
their  defences,  shelled  the  ground  beyond,  and  then 
advanced,  carrying  two  large  buildings  facing  them 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

All  day  the  fighting  continued,  the  British  gaining 
ground  on  either  side;  the  next  day  the  houses  still 
intervening  between  them  were  captured,  and  in  the 
afternoon  the  defenders  of  the  Residency  and  the  re- 
lieving force  joined  hands.  The  total  loss  of  the  latter 
was  122  officers  and  men  killed  and  345  wounded. 

Frank  Mallett's  letter  to  Sir  John  Greendale  was 
not  sent  off.  He  received  a  bullet  through  the  left  arm 
as  the  troops  advanced  against  the  Secunderbagh,  but, 
using  his  sash  as  a  sling,  led  on  his  company  against 
the  defenders  crowded  in  the  garden,  and  took  part  in 
the  desperate  fighting.  Three  of  his  brother  officers 
were  killed  during  the  three  days'  fighting  and  five 
<  thers  wounded. 

"  Well,  Marshall,"  he  said  on  the  evening  of  the 


38  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

day  when  the  way  was  open  to  the  Residency,  "you 
have  not  cheated  your  creditor,  I  see." 

"  No,  Captain  Mallett,  I  thought  of  him  when  those 
fellows  in  the  mosque  were  keeping  such  a  heavy  fire 
upon  us  as  we  were  waiting  to  get  into  the  Secunder- 
bagh.  It  seemed  to  me  that  his  chance  of  ever  getting 
his  money  was  not  worth  much.  How  the  bullets  did 
whizz  about!  I  felt  sure  that  we  should  be  all  mown 
down  before  we  could  get  under  the  shelter  of  the 
wall.  I  don't  think  I  shall  ever  feel  afraid  in  battle 
again.  One  gets  to  see  that  musketry  fire  is  not  so 
very  dangerous  after  all.  If  it  were,  very  few  of  us 
would  have  got  through  the  three  days'  fighting  alive, 
whereas  the  casualties  only  amount  to  one-tenth  of  the 
force  engaged.  I  am  very  sorry  you  are  wounded." 

"  Oh,  my  wound  is  a  mere  trifle.  I  scarcely  felt  it 
until  the  sergeant  next  to  me  said,  '  You  are  wounded 
in  the  arm,  Captain  Mallett.'  The  doctor  says  that  it 
narrowly  missed  the  bone,  but  in  this  case  a  miss  is  as 
good  as  a  mile.  I  am  very  sorry  about  Hatchard  and 
Rivers  and  Miles.  They  were  all  good  fellows,  and 
when  this  excitement  is  over  we  shall  miss  them  sadly. 
It  will  give  you  your  step." 

"  Yes,  I  won't  say  that  it  is  lucky,  for  one  cannot 
forget  how  it  has  been  gained,  still  it  is  a  good  lift 
for  me,  for  there  are  two  or  three  down  for  purchase 
below  me,  and  otherwise  I  should  have  had  to  wait  a 
long  time.  It  puts  you  one  higher  on  the  list,  Captain 
Mallett." 

"  I  am  going  to  clear  out  altogether  as  soon  as  the 
fighting  is  all  over,  so  whether  I  am  fourth  or  fifth 
on  the  list  makes  no  difference  whatever  to  me." 

"  Still  it  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  have  been 
through  this  and  to  have  taken  one's  share  in  the 
work  of  revenge.  It  was  a  horrible  business  in  the 
Secunderbagh,  though  one  did  not  think  of  it  at  the 
time.  The  villains  richly  deserved  what  they  got,  but 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  39 

I  own  that  I  should  not  care  to  go  into  the  place  again. 
They  must  have  suffered  tremendously  altogether.  The 
Colonel  said  this  afternoon  that  he  found  their  loss 
had  been  put  down  as  at  least  six  or  seven  thousand." 
The  regiment  took  its  full  share  in  the  work  that 
followed  the  relief  of  Lucknow,  portions  being  at- 
tached to  each  of  the  flying  columns  which  scoured 
Oude,  defeated  Kunwer  Singh,  and  drove  the  rebels 
before  them  wherever  they  encountered  them.  In  the 
beginning  of  February  the  vacancies  in  the  ranks  were 
filled  up  by  a  draft  from  England.  The  work  had  been 
fatiguing  in  the  extreme,  but  the  men  were  as  a  rule 
in  splendid  health,  the  constant  excitement  prevent- 
ing their  suffering  from  the  effect  of  heat  or  attacks 
of  fever.  Two  companies  which  had  been  away  from 
the  headquarters  of  the  regiment  for  six  weeks,  found 
on  their  return  a  number  of  letters  awaiting  them, 
the  first  they  had  received  since  leaving  England. 
Captain  Mallett,  who  commanded  this  detachment, 
found  one  from  Sir  John  Greendale,  written  after  the 
receipt  of  his  letter  from  Cawnpore. 

"MY  DEAR  MALLETT:  We  were  all  delighted  to  get 
your  letter.  Long  before  we  received  it  we  had  the 
news  of  the  desperate  fighting  at  Lucknow,  which  was. 
of  course,  telegraphed  down  to  the  coast  and  got  here 
before  your  letter.  You  may  imagine  that  we  looked 
anxiously  through  the  list  of  killed  and  wounded,  and 
were  glad  indeed  that  your  name  in  the  latter  had  the 
word  slightly  after  it.  Things  are  going  on  here  much 
as  usual.  There  was  a  terrible  sensation  on  the  very 
morning  after  you  left  at  the  disappearance  of  Martha 
Bennett,  the  daughter  of  one  of  your  tenants.  She 
left  the  house  just  at  dusk  the  evening  before,  and 
has  not  been  heard  of  since.  As  she  took  nothing  with 
her,  it  is  improbable  in  the  extreme  that  she  can  have 
fled,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  poor  girl 


40  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

was  murdered,  possibly  by  some  passing  tramps.  How- 
ever, though  the  strictest  search  was  made  throughout 
the  neighbourhood,  her  body  has  never  been  discovered. 
We  lost  another  neighbour  just  about  the  time  you 
left — Percy  Carthew.  He  went  for  a  year's  big  game 
shooting  in  North  America.  We  don't  miss  him  much, 
as  he  lived  in  London,  and  was  not  often  down  at  his 
place.  I  don't  remember  his  being  there  since  you 
came  back  from  the  Crimea.  Anyhow,  I  do  not  think 
that  I  ever  saw  you  and  him  together  either  in  a  hunt- 
ing field  or  at  a  dinner  party,  which,  of  course,  you 
would  have  been  had  you  both  been  down  here  at  the 
same  time.  If  I  remember  right,  you  were  at  the  same 
school." 

And  then  followed  some  gossip  about  mutual 
friends,  and  the  letter  concluded,  "  The  general  ex- 
citement is  calming  down  a  little  now  that  Delhi  is 
taken  and  the  garrison  of  Lucknow  brought  off.  Of 
course  there  will  be  a  great  deal  more  fighting  before 
the  whole  thing  is  over,  but  there  is  no  longer  any 
fear  for  the  safety  of  India.  The  Sikhs  have  come 
out  splendidly;  who  would  have  thought  it  after  the 
tremendous  thrashing  we  gave  them  a  few  years  back? 
Take  care  of  yourself,  lad.  You  have  the  Victoria 
Cross  and  can  do  very  well  without  a  bar,  so  give  some- 
one else  the  chance.  My  wife  and  Bertha  send  their 
love." 

Two  or  three  of  his  other  letters  were  from  friends 
in  regiments  at  home  bewailing  their  hard  fortune  at 
being  out  of  the  fighting.  The  last  he  opened  bore 
the  latest  postmark.  It  was  from  his  solicitor,  and 
enclosed  Marshall's  cancelled  bill.  "  Of  course,  as  you 
requested  me  to  give  £300  for  the  enclosed,  I  did  so, 
but  by  the  way  in  which  Morrison  jumped  at  the  offer 
I  believe  that  he  would  have  been  glad  to  have  taken 
half  that  sum." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  41 

Mallett  had  gone  into  his  tent  to  open  his  letters 
in  quiet.  He  presently  went  to  the  entrance,  and 
catching  sight  of  Marshall  called  him  up. 

"  I  have  managed  that  affair  for  you,  Marshall," 
he  said,  "  and  have  arranged  it  in  a  way  that  I  am 
sure  will  be  satisfactory  to  us  both.  You  must  look 
upon  me  now  as  your  creditor  instead  of  Morrison, 
and  you  won't  find  me  a  hard  one.  Here  is  your  can- 
celled bill  for  four  hundred  and  fifty.  I  got  it  for 
three  hundred,  so  that  a  third  of  your  debt  is  wiped 
off  at  once.  As  to  the  rest,  you  can  pay  me  as  you  in- 
tended to  pay  him,  but  I  don't  want  you  to  stint  your- 
self unnecessarily.  Pay  me  ten  or  fifteen  pounds  at 
a  time  at  your  convenience,  and  don't  let  us  say  any- 
thing more  about  it." 

"  But  I  may  be  killed,"  Marshall  said,  in  a  voice 
struggling  with  emotion. 

"  If  you  are,  lad,  there  is  an  end  of  the  business. 
As  you  know,  I  am  very  well  off,  and  the  loss  would 
not  affect  me  in  any  way.  Very  likely  you  will  light 
upon  some  rich  booty  in  one  of  these  affairs  with  a 
rebel  Rajah,  and  will  be  able  to  pay  it  all  off  at  once." 

"I  will  if  I  can,  Mallett,  though  I  think  that  it 
will  be  much  more  satisfactory  to  do  it  out  of  my  sav- 
ings, except  that  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of  knowing 
that  if  I  were  wiped  out  afterwards  you  would  not  be 
a  loser." 

A  few  days  later  Frank  Mallett  was  sent  with  his 
company  to  rout  out  a  party  of  rebels  reported  to  be 
in  possession  of  a  large  village  twenty  miles  away. 
Armstrong  was  laid  up  by  a  slight  attack  of  fever,  and 
he  asked  that  Marshall  should  be  appointed  in  his 
place  on  this  occasion. 

"  One  wants  two  subalterns,  Colonel,"  he  said,  "  for 
a  business  like  this.  I  may  have  to  detach  a  party  to 
the  back  of  the  village  to  cut  off  the  rebels'  retreat,  and 
it  may  be  necessary  to  assault  in  two  places." 


42  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  Certainly ;  take  Marshall  if  you  wish  it,  Captain 
Mallett;  the  young  fellow  has  been  behaving  excel- 
lently, and  has  gone  far  to  retrieve  his  character.  Cap- 
tain Johnson  has  reported  to  me  that  he  is  exemplary 
in  his  duties,  and  has  shown  much  gallantry  under 
fire,  especially  in  that  affair  near  Xeemuch,  in  which 
he  rushed  forward  and  carried  off  a  wounded  man 
who  would  otherwise  have  certainly  been  killed.  I 
reported  the  case  to  the  Brigadier,  who  said  that  at 
any  other  time  the  young  fellow  would  probably  have 
been  recommended  for  a  V.  C.,  but  that  there  were 
so  many  cases  of  individual  gallantry  that  there 
was  no  chance  of  his  getting  that;  but  Marshall 
was  specially  mentioned  in  orders  four  days  ago, 
and  this  will,  of  course,  count  in  his  favour.  Take 
him  with  you  by  all  means;  your  ensign  only  joined 
with  the  last  draft,  and  you  will  certainly  want 
some  one  with  you  of  greater  experience  than  he 
has." 

Marshall  was  delighted  when  he  heard  that  he  was 
to  accompany  Captain  Mallett.  In  addition  to  his 
own  company,  a  hundred  men  of  the  Punjaub  Infan- 
try and  fifty  Sikh  horse  were  under  Captain  Mallett's 
command,  the  native  troops  being  added  at  the  last 
moment,  as  a  report  of  another  body  of  mutineers 
marching  in  the  same  direction  had  just  come  in. 
Frank  spent  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  inspecting  some 
maps  of  the  country,  and  had  a  talk  with  the  native 
who  was  to  act  as  guide.  When  the  little  force  was 
drawn  up,  he  marched  off  in  qui.te  another  direction 
from  that  in  which  the  village  lay.  Being  in  com- 
mand, he  was  mounted  for  the  first  time  during  the 
campaign.  The  lieutenant  in  command  of  the  Sikhs 
presently  rode  up  to  him. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Captain  Mallett,  but  I  can- 
not but  think  that  your  guide  is  taking  you  in  the 
•wrong  direction.  I  looked  at  the  map  before  starting, 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  43 

and  find  that  Dousi  lies  almost  due  north.  We  are 
marching  west." 

"You  are  quite  right,  Mr.  Hammond,  but,  you 
see,  I  don't  want  any  of  the  natives  about  the  camp 
to  guess  where  we  are  going.  None  of  these  Oude 
fellows  bears  us  any  good  will,  and  one  of  them  might 
hurry  off,  and  carry  information  as  to  the  line  we  were 
following.  We  will  march  four  miles  along  this  road, 
and  then  strike  off  by  another  leading  north.  We 
must  surprise  them  if  we  can;  we  don't  really  know 
much  about  their  force,  and  even  if  we  did,  they  may 
be  joined  by  some  other  body  before  we  get  there — 
there  are  numerous  bands  of  them  all  over  the  coun- 
try. And  in  the  next  place,  if  they  knew  that  we  were 
coming,  they  might  bolt  before  we  got  there.  Besides, 
some  of  these  villages  are  very  strong,  and  we  might 
suffer  a  good  deal  before  we  could  carry  it  if  they  had 
notice  of  our  coming.  However,  you  were  quite  right 
to  point  out  to  me  that  we  were  not  going  in  what 
seemed  the  right  direction." 

The  column  started  at  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. It  had  been  intended  that  it  should  move  off 
at  daybreak  on  the  following  morning,  but  Frank  had 
suggested  to  the  Colonel  that  it  would  be  advantageous 
to  march  half  the  distance  that  night. 

"  Of  course,  we  could  do  the  twenty  miles  to-mor- 
row, Colonel,"  he  said,  "but  the  men  would  hardly 
be  in  the  best  fighting  trim  when  they  got  there.  More- 
over, by  starting  in  the  afternoon,  the  natives  here 
would  imagine  that  we  were  going  to  pounce  upon 
some  fugitives  at  a  village  not  far  away." 

The  permission  was  readily  granted,  and  accord- 
inly,  after  marching  until  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
the  column  halted  in  a  grove  of  trees  to  which  their 
guide  led  them,  half  a  mile  from  the  road.  Each  man 
carried  four  days'  cooked  provisions  in  his  haversack. 
There  was  therefore  no  occasion  for  fires  to  be  lighted, 


44  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

and  after  seeing  that  sentries  were  placed  round  the 
edge  of  the  grove,  Frank  Mallett  joined  the  officers 
who  were  gathered  in  the  centre. 

"  What  time  shall  we  march  to-morrow  ? "  the 
officer  in  command  of  the  native  infantry  asked. 

"  Not  until  the  heat  of  the  day  is  over.  We  have 
come  about  twelve  miles,  and  have  as  much  more  to 
do;  and  if  we  start  at  the  same  hour  as  we  did  to-day 
we  shall  get  there  about  nine.  I  shall  halt  half  a 
mile  away,  reconnoitre  the  place  at  night,  and  if  the 
ground  is  open  enough  to  move  without  making  a 
noise,  we  will  post  the  troops  in  the  positions  they  are 
to  occupy,  and  attack  as  soon  as  day  breaks.  In  that 
way  we  shall  get  the  benefit  of  surprise  and  at  the 
same  time  have  daylight  to  prevent  their  escaping. 
Besides,  if  we  attacked  at  night  a  good  many  of  the 
villagers,  and  perhaps  women,  might  be  killed  in  the 
confusion.  To-morrow  morning  we  will  cut  down  some 
young  saplings  and  make  a  dozen  scaling  ladders;  we 
have  brought  a  bag  of  gunpowder  to  blow  open  the  gate, 
and  if  the  main  body  enter  there  while  two  parties  scale 
the  walls  at  other  points  we  shall  get  them  in  a  trap." 

At  about  nine  o'clock  the  next  evening  the  guide 
said  that  they  were  now  within  half  a  mile  of  the  vil- 
lage, and  they  accordingly  halted.  The  men  were  or- 
dered to  keep  silence  and  to  lie  down  and  sleep  as  soon 
as  they  had  eaten  their  supper,  while  Mallett,  accom- 
panied by  the  two  officers  of  the  native  troops  and  the 
guide  made  his  way  towards  the  village.  It  was  found 
to  be  larger  than  had  been  anticipated.  On  three  sides 
cultivated  fields  extended  to  the  foot  of  the  strong 
wall  that  surrounded  it,  while  on  the  fourth  there  was 
rough  broken  ground  covered  with  scrub  and  brushes. 

"  How  far  does  this  extend  ?  "  Captain  Mallett  asked 
the  guide. 

"  About  half  a  mile,  and  then  joins  a  big  jungle, 
sahib.'' 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  45 

"  This  is  the  side  they  will  try  to  escape  by ;  there- 
fore, Mr.  Herbert,  you  will  lead  your  men  round  here 
with  four  scaling  ladders.  You  will  post  them  along 
at  the  foot  of  the  wall,  and  when  you  hear  the  ex- 
plosion of  the  powder  bag  or  an  outburst  of  musketry 
firing,  you  will  scale  the  wall  and  advance  to  meet 
me,  keeping  as  wide  a  front  as  possible,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent fugitives  from  passing  you  and  getting  out  here. 
The  cavalry  will  cut  off  those  who  make  across  the 
open  country.  I  would  give  a  good  deal  to  know  how 
many  of  these  fellows  are  inside;  four  hundred  was 
the  number  first  reported;  they  may,  of  course,  have 
already  moved  away,  and  on  the  other  hand  they  may 
have  been  joined  by  others.  They  were  said  to  have 
some  guns  with  them,  but  these  will  be  of  little  use  in 
the  streets  of  the  village,  and  we  shall  probably  capture 
them  before  they  have  time  to  fire  a  single  round." 

At  three  o'clock  the  troops  stood  to  their  arms  and 
moved  noiselessly  off  towards  the  positions  assigned 
to  them.  Captain  Mallett  led  his  own  company  to 
within  four  hundred  yards  of  the  wall,  and  then  sent 
Marshall  forward  with  two  men  to  fix  the  powder  bag 
and  fuse  to  the  gate.  When  they  had  done  this  they 
were  to  remain  quietly  there  until  warned  that  the 
company  was  about  to  advance;  then  they  were  to 
light  the  fuse,  which  was  cut  to  burn  two  minutes,  to 
retire  round  the  angle  of  the  wall  and  join  the  com- 
pany as  it  came  up.  The  troops  lay  down,  for  the 
ground  was  level,  and  there  was  no  spot  behind  which 
they  could  conceal  themselves,  and  impatiently  watched 
the  sky  until  the  first  gleam  of  light  appeared.  An- 
other ten  minutes  elapsed,  the  dawn  was  spreading 
fast,  and  a  man  was  sent  forward  to  Lieutenant  Mar- 
shall to  say  that  the  company  was  getting  in  motion. 

As  soon  as  the  messenger  was  seen  to  reach  the 
gates,  Mallett  gave  the  word.  The  men  sprang  to  their 

feet. 

4 


46  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  Don't  double,  men ;  we  shall  be  there  in  time, 
and  it  is  no  use  getting  out  of  breath  and  spoiling 
your  shooting." 

They  were  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  gate,  when 
they  heard  a  shout  from  the  village,  and  as  they 
pressed  on,  shot  after  shot  rang  out  from  the  wall. 
A  moment  later  there  was  a  heavy  explosion,  and  as 
the  smoke  cleared  off,  the  gate  was  seen  to  be  de- 
stroyed. A  few  seconds  later,  the  troops  burst  through 
the  opening.  Infantry  bugles  were  sounding  in  the 
village,  and  there  was  a  loud  din  of  shouting,  cries 
of  alarm  and  orders.  From  every  house  the  mutineers 
rushed,  musket  in  hand,  but  were  shot  down  or  bay- 
onetted  by  the  troops.  As  the  latter  approached  a 
large  open  space  in  the  middle  of  the  village  a  strong 
body  of  Sepoys  advanced  in  good  order  to  meet  them, 
led  by  their  native  officers. 

"  Steady,  men,  steady,"  Captain  Mallett  shouted ; 
"  form  across  the  street." 

Quickly  the  men  fell  in,  though  several  dropped 
as  a  volley  flashed  out  from  the  Sepoy  line. 

"  One  volley  and  then  charge,"  Mallett  shouted ; 
some  of  the  guns  were  already  empty,  but  the  rest 
poured  in  their  fire  when  the  word  was  given  as  regu- 
larly as  if  on  parade. 

"  Level  bayonets — charge !  "  And  with  a  loud  cheer 
the  soldiers  sprang  forward.  The  Sepoys,  well  com- 
manded though  they  were,  wavered  and  broke;  but 
the  British  were  upon  them  before  they  could  fly,  and 
with  shouts  of  "  Cawnpore,"  used  their  bayonets  with 
deadly  effect,  driving  the  enemy  before  them. 

As  they  came  into  the  open,  and  the  fugitives 
cleared  a  way  on  either  side,  they  saw  a  long  line  of 
men  drawn  up.  A  moment  later  a  flash  of  fire  ran 
along  it. 

"  Shoulder  to  shoulder,  men,"  Captain  Mallett 
shouted;  "give  them  the  bayonet." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  47 

With  a  hoarse  roar  of  rage,  for  many  of  their  com- 
rades had  fallen,  the  company  rushed  forward  and 
burst  through  the  line  of  mutineers  as  if  it  had  been 
a  sheet  of  paper;  then  they  divided,  and  Captain  Mal- 
lett  with  half  the  company  turned  to  the  right.  Mar- 
shall took  the  other  wing  to  the  left.  Encouraged  by 
the  smallness  of  the  number  of  their  assailants,  the 
mutineers,  cheered  on  by  their  officers,  resisted  stoutly, 
a  scattering  fire  opened  upon  the  British  from  the 
houses  round,  and  the  shouts  of  the  mutineers  rose 
louder  and  louder,  when  a  heavy  volley  was  suddenly 
poured  into  them,  and  the  Punjaubies  rushed  out  from 
the  street  facing  that  by  which  the  British  had  entered. 
They  bore  to  the  right,  and  fell  upon  the  body  with 
which  Marshall  was  engaged. 

The  Sepoys,  taken  wholly  by  surprise,  at  once  lost 
heart.  Cheering  loudly,  the  British  attacked  them 
with  increased  ardour,  while  the  Punjaubies  flung 
themselves  into  their  midst.  In  an  instant,  that  flank 
of  the  Sepoys  was  scattered  in  headlong  flight,  hotly 
pursued  by  their  foes.  There  was  no  firing,  for  the 
muskets  were  all  empty;  but  the  bayonet  did  its  work, 
and  the  open  space  and  the  streets  leading  from  it 
were  thickly  strewn  with  dead.  The  Sepoys  attacked 
by  Captain  Mallett's  party,  on  the  other  hand,  though 
shaken  for  a  moment,  stood  firm,  led  by  two  or  three 
native  officers,  who,  fighting  with  the  greatest  bravery, 
exhorted  their  men  to  continue  their  resistance. 

"  Would  you  rather  be  hung  than  fight  ? "  they 
shouted ;  "  they  are  but  a  handful ;  we  are  five  to  one 
against  them.  Forward,  men,  and  exterminate  these 
Feringhees  before  the  others  can  come  back  to  their 
assistance." 

The  Sepoys  were  now  the  assailants,  and  with  furi- 
ous shouts  pressed  round  the  little  body  of  British 
troops. 

"  Steady,  men,  steady,"   Captain  Mallett  shouted, 


4.8  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

as  he  drove  his  sword  through  the  body  of  one  of  the 
rebel  leaders  who  rushed  at  him ;  "  keep  together,  back 
to  back,  we  shall  have  help  here  in  a  minute." 

It  was  longer  than  that,  however,  before  relief 
came;  for  three  or  four  minutes  a  desperate  struggle 
went  on,  then  Marshall's  voice  was  heard  shouting, 
"  This  way,  men,  this  way !  "  A  moment  later  there 
was  a  surging  movement  in  the  ranks  of  the  insurgents, 
and  with  a  dozen  men  Marshall  burst  through  them, 
and  joined  the  party.  These  at  once  fell  furiously  upon 
the  mutineers,  and  the  latter  were  already  giving  way 
when  some  fifty  of  the  Punjaubies,  led  by  their  officers, 
fell  upon  them.  The  effect  was  decisive;  the  Sepoys 
scattered  at  once  and  fled  in  all  directions,  pursued 
by  the  furious  soldiers  and  the  Punjaubies.  Reach- 
ing the  walls,  the  fugitives  leapt  recklessly  down. 
Forty  or  fifty  of  them  were  cut  down  by  the  cavalry, 
but  the  greater  portion  reached  the  broken  ground 
in  safety.  Here  the  cavalry  could  not  follow  them, 
for  the  ground  was  covered  with  rocks  and  boulders 
concealed  by  the  bushes.  In  the  village  itself  three 
hundred  and  fifty  lay  dead. 

"  Thanks,  Marshall,"  Frank  Mallett  said,  when  the 
fight  in  the  village  was  over,  "  you  arrived  just  in 
time,  for  it  was  going  very  hard  with  us.  Altogether 
it  was  more  than  we  bargained  for,  for  they  were  cer- 
tainly over  a  thousand  strong;  they  must  have  been 
joined  by  a  very  strong  party  yesterday." 

"I  ought  not  to  have  gone  so  far,"  Marshall  re- 
plied, "  but  I  had  no  idea  that  all  the  Punjaubies  had 
come  to  our  side  of  the  fight.  The  men  were  so  eager 
that  I  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  getting  them  off 
the  pursuit.  Fortunately  I  met  Herbert,  and  learned 
that  all  his  men  were  with  us ;  then  I  gathered  a  dozen 
of  our  fellows,  and  rushed  off,  telling  him  to  follow  as 
soon  as  he  could  get  some  of  his  men  together.  You 
can  imagine  what  agony  I  felt  when,  as  I  entered  the 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  49 

open  space,  I  saw  a  surging  mass  of  Sepoys,  and  no 
sign  of  any  of  you,  and  how  I  cursed  my  own  folly, 
and  what  delight  I  felt,  as  on  cutting  our  way  through 
we  found  that  you  were  still  on  your  feet." 

"  Yes,  it  was  a  close  shave,  Marshall ;  another  two 
or  three  minutes  and  it  would  have  been  all  over.  The 
men  fought  like  lions,  as  you  can  see  by  the  piled  up 
dead  there.  Half  of  them  were  down,  and  twenty 
men  cannot  hold  out  long  against  four  or  five  hundred. 
We  owe  our  lives  to  you  beyond  all  question.  I  don't 
see  that  you  were  in  the  least  to  blame  in  the  matter, 
for  naturally  you  would  suppose  that  some  of  the  Pun- 
jaubies  would  have  joined  us;  besides,  it  was  of  course 
essential  that  you  should  not  give  the  Sepoys  time 
to  rally,  but  should  follow  them  up  hotly.  Where  is 
Anstruther?" 

"I  don't  know;  I  have  not  seen  him  since  we  en- 
tered the  square." 

"  Have  any  of  you  seen  Mr.  Anstruther  ? "  Captain 
Mallett  asked,  turning  to  some  soldiers  standing  near. 

"  He  is  lying  over  there,  sir,"  one  of  the  men  said ; 
"  he  was  just  in  front  of  me  when  the  Pandies  fired 
that  volley  at  us  as  we  came  out  of  the  streets,  and  he 
pitched  forward  and  fell  like  a  stone.  I  think  that 
he  was  shot  through  the  head,  sir." 

They  went  across  to  the  spot.  The  ensign  lay  there 
shot  through  the  brain.  Four  or  five  soldiers  lay  round 
him;  one  of  them  was  dead,  the  others  more  or  less 
seriously  wounded. 

"  Sound  the  assembly,"  Captain  Mallett  said,  as 
he  turned  away  sadly,  to  a  bugler;  "let  us  see  what 
our  losses  are." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  bugle  sounded,  and  in  a  short  time  the  infan- 
try fell  in;  they  had  been  engaged  in  searching  the 
houses  for  mutineers.  The  Punjaubies  had  lost  but 
fire  killed  and  thirteen  wounded,  while  of  the  whites 
an  officer  and  eighteen  men  were  killed  and  sixteen 
wounded,  nine  of  the  former  having  fallen  in  the  bayo- 
net struggle  with  the  Sepoys.  Nine  guns  were  cap- 
tured, none  of  which  had  been  fired,  the  attack  hav- 
ing been  so  sudden  that  the  Sepoys  had  only  had  time 
to  fall  in  before  their  assailants  were  upon  them. 

"  It  is  a  creditable  victory,"  Mallett  said,  "  con- 
sidering that  we  had  to  face  more  than  double  the  num- 
ber that  we  expected.  Our  •  casualties  are  heavy,  but 
they  are  nothing  to  those  of  the  mutineers.  Sergeant, 
take  a  file  of  men  and  go  round  and  count  the  num- 
ber of  the  enemy  who  have  fallen.  Ah,  here  comes 
a  Sowar,  and  we  shall  hear  what  the  cavalry  have  been 
doing  outside." 

The  trooper  handed  him  a  paper :  "  Fifty- three  of 
the  enemy  killed,  the  rest  escaped  into  the  jungle.  On 
our  side  two  wounded;  one  seriously,  one  slightly." 

"  That  is  as  well  as  we  could  expect,  Marshall.  Of 
course,  most  of  them  got  over  the  wall  at  the  back; 
you  see,  all  our  plans  were  disarranged  by  finding 
them  in  such  unexpected  strength.  Had  we  been  able 
to  thrash  them  by  ourselves,  the  Punjaubies  would 
have  cut  off  the  retreat  in  that  direction.  As  it  was, 
that  part  of  the  business  is  a  failure." 

The  Sergeant  presently  returned. 
50 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  51 

"  There  are  340  in  the  streets,  sir,"  he  reported ; 
"  and  I  reckon  there  are  another  20  or  30  killed  in  the 
houses,  but  I  have  not  searched  them  yet." 

"  That  is  sufficiently  close ;  upwards  of  400  is  good 
enough.  Now,  Mr.  Marshall,  set  the  men  to  work 
making  stretchers  to  carry  the  wounded.  Mr.  Herbert, 
will  you  tell  off  a  party  of  your  men  to  dig  a  large 
grave  outside  the  village  for  the  killed,  and  a  small 
one  apart  for  Mr.  Anstruther;  poor  fellow,  I  am  sorry 
indeed  at  his  loss;  he  would  have  made  a  fine  officer. 
Sergeant  Huggins,  take  a  party  and  search  the  village 
for  provisions;  we  have  got  bread,  but  lay  hands  on 
any  fowls  or  goats  that  you  can  find,  and  there  may 
be  some  sheep." 

While  this  party  was  away,  another  tore  down  the 
woodwork  of  an  empty  house,  and  fires  were  soon  burn- 
ing, an  abundance  of  fowl  and  goats  having  been  ob- 
tained. The  cavalry  had  by  this  time  come  in.  While 
the  meal  was  being  cooked  the  British  and  Panjaub 
dead  were  carried  out  to  the  spot  where  the  grave  had 
been  dug.  The  troops  had  a  hearty  meal,  and  then 
marched  out  from  the  village;  they  were  drawn  up 
round  the  graves,  and  the  bodies  were  laid  reverently 
in  them.  Captain  Mallett  said  a  few  words  over  them ; 
the  earth  was  then  shovelled  in  and  levelled,  and  the 
troops  marched  to  a  wood  a  mile  distant,  where  they 
halted  until  the  heat  of  the  day  was  over.  They  re- 
turned by  the  direct  road  to  the  camp,  which  they 
reached  at  midnight.  All  concerned  gained  great 
credit  for  the  heavy  blow  that  had  been  inflicted  on 
the  mutineers,  and  the  affair  was  highly  spoken  of 
in  the  Brigadier's  report  to  the  Commander-in-chief. 
Shortly  afterwards  Mallett's  name  appeared  in  gen- 
eral orders  as  promoted  to  a  brevet  Majority,  pending 
a  confirmation  by  the  home  authorities.  Two  days 
after  the  return  of  the  little  column,  the  brigade 
marched  and  joined  the  force  collected  at  Cawnpore  for 


52  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

the  final  operation  against  Lucknow,  and  on  the  3rd  of 
March  reached  the  Commander-in-chief  at  the  Dil 
Koosha,  which  had  been  captured  with  the  same  ease  as 
on  the  occasion  of  the  former  advance. 

They  found  that  while  the  main  body  had  gathered 
there,  6,000  men  under  Sir  James  Outram  had  crossed 
the  Goomtee  from  the  Alum  Bagh,  and,  after  defeating 
two  serious  attacks  by  the  enemy,  had  taken  up  a 
position  at  Chinhut.  On  the  9th,  Sir  Colin  Camp- 
bell captured  the  Martiniere  with  trifling  loss.  On 
the  llth  General  Outram  pushed  his  advance  as  far 
as  the  iron  bridge,  and  established  batteries  command- 
ing the  passage  of  the  stone  bridge  also.  On  the  12th 
the  Imambarra  was  breached  and  stormed,  and  the 
troops  pressed  so  hotly  on  the  flying  enemy  that  they 
entered  the  Kaiser  Bagh,  the  strongest  fortified  pal- 
ace in  the  city,  and  drove  the  enemy  from  it.  The 
— th  was  engaged  in  this  action,  and  Major  Mal- 
lett  was  leading  his  company  to  the  assault  on  the 
Imambarra  when  a  shot  brought  him  to  the  ground. 
When  he  recovered  his  senses  he  found  himself 
in  a  chamber  that  had  been  hastily  converted  into 
a  hospital,  with  the  regimental  doctor  leaning  over 
him. 

"  What  has  happened  ?  "  he  asked. 

t:  You  have  been  hit,  Mallett,  and  have  had  a  very 
close  shave  of  it,  indeed;  but  as  it  is,  you  will  soon 
be  about  again." 

"  Where  was  I  hit  ?    I  don't  feel  any  pain." 

"  You  were  hit  in  the  neck,  about  half  an  inch 
above  the  collar  bone,  and  the  ball  has  gone  through 
the  muscles  of  the  neck;  and  beyond  the  fact  that 
you  won't  be  able  to  turn  your  head  for  some  time, 
you  will  be  none  the  worse  for  it.  An  inch  further 
to  the  right,  or  an  inch  lower  or  higher,  and  it  would 
have  been  fatal.  It  was  not  one  of  the  enemy  who 
did  you  this  service,  for  the  ball  went  up  from  behind. 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  53 

and  came  out  in  front;  it  is  evidently  a  random  shot 
from  one  of  our  own  fellows." 

"  I  am  always  more  afraid  of  a  shot  from  behind 
than  I  am  of  one  in  front  when  I  am  leading  the 
company,  doctor;  the  men  get  so  excited  that  they 
blaze  away  anyhow,  and  in  the  smoke  are  just  as  likely 
to  hit  an  officer  two  or  three  paces  ahead  of  them  as 
an  enemy.  How  long  have  I  been  insensible  ? " 

"  You  were  brought  in  here  half-an-hour  ago,  and 
I  don't  suppose  that  you  had  lain  many  minutes  on 
the  ground  before  you  were  picked  up." 

"  Have  we  taken  the  Imambarra  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  what  is  better  still,  our  fellows  rushed 
into  the  Kaiser  Bagh  at  the  heels  of  the  enemy;  we 
got  the  news  ten  minutes  ago." 

"  That  is  good  indeed ;  we  anticipated  desperate 
fighting  before  we  took  that." 

"  Yes,  it  was  an  unlucky  shot,  Mallett,  that  knocked 
you  out  of  your  share  in  the  loot.  We  have  always 
heard  that  the  place  was  full  of  treasure  and  jewels." 

"  If  there  is  no  one  else  who  wants  your  attention, 
doctor,  I  advise  you  to  join  the  regiment  there  for 
an  hour  or  two;  as  for  me,  I  care  nothing  about  the 
loot;  there  are  plenty  of  fellows  who  will  benefit  by 
it  more  than  I  should,  and  I  give  up  my  share  will- 
ingly." 

The  doctor  shook  his  head.  "  I  am  afraid  I  can- 
not do  that;  but,  between  ourselves,  I  have  let  Fergu- 
son slip  away,  and  he  is  to  divide  what  he  gets  with 
me." 

"  Have  we  any  wounded  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  yet ;  the  whole  thing  was  done  so 
suddenly  that  the  loss  cannot  have  been  heavy.  I 
was  in  the  rear  of  the  brigade  when  you  were  brought 
in,  and  as  the  case  at  first  looked  bad,  I  got  some  of 
the  stretcher  men  with  me  to  burst  open  the  door  of 
this  house  and  established  a  dozen  temporary  beds  here. 


54  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

As  you  see,  there  are  only  four  others  tenanted,  and 
they  are  all  hopeless  cases.  No  doubt  the  rest  have 
all  been  carried  off  to  the  rear,  as  only  the  men  who 
helped  me  would  have  known  of  this  place.  Now  that 
you  have  come  round,  I  will  send  a  couple  of  hospital 
orderlies  in  here  and  be  off  myself  to  the  hospital  in 
the  rear.  I  will  look  in  again  this  evening." 

In  a  short  time  the  doctor  returned  with  an  or- 
derly. 

"  I  cannot  find  another  now,"  he  said,  "  but  one 
will  be  enough.  Here  is  a  flask  of  brandy,  and  he 
will  find  you  water  somewhere;  there  is  nothing  to 
be  done  for  any  of  you  at  present,  except  to  give  you 
drink  when  you  want  it." 

Two  hours  later  Marshall  came  in. 

"  Thank  God  you  are  not  dangerously  hurt,  Mal- 
lett,"  he  said ;  "  I  only  heard  that  you  were  down 
three  quarters  of  an  hour  ago,  when  I  ran  against 
Armstrong  in  the  Kaiser  Bagh;  he  told  me  that  he 
had  seen  you  fall  at  the  beginning  of  the  fight,  and  I 
got  leave  from  the  Colonel  to  look  for  you.  At  the 
hospital,  no  one  seemed  to  know  anything  about  you, 
but  I  luckily  came  across  Jefferies,  who  told  me  where 
to  find  you  and  that  your  wound  was  not  serious,  so  I 
hurried  back  here.  He  said  that  you  would  be  taken 
to  the  hospital  this  evening." 

"  Yes,  I  am  in  luck  again ;  like  the  last  it  is  only 
a  flesh  wound,  though  it  is  rather  worse,  for  I  expect 
that  I  shall  have  to  go  about  with  a  stiff  neck  for 
some  weeks  to  come,  and  it  is  disgusting  being  laid  up 
in  the  middle  of  an  affair  like  this.  Have  we  lost 
many  fellows  ?  " 

"N"o;  Scobell  is  the  only  officer  killed.  Hunter, 
Groves  and  Parkinson  are  wounded — Parkinson,  they 
say,  seriously.  We  have  twenty-two  rank  and  file 
killed,  and  twenty  or  thirty  wounded.  I  have  not 
seen  the  returns." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  55 

"And  how  about  the  loot,  Marshall?"  Mallett  said, 
with  a  smile.  "  Was  that  all  humbug  ? " 

"  It  is  stupendous.  We  were  among  the  first  at 
the  Kaiser  Bagh,  and  I  don't  believe  that  there  is  a 
man  who  has  not  got  his  pockets  stuffed  with  gold 
coins.  There  were  chests  and  chests  full;  they  did 
not  bother  about  the  jewels — I  think  they  took  them 
for  coloured  glass.  I  kept  my  eyes  open,  and  picked 
up  enough  to  pay  my  debt  to  you  five  times  over." 

"  I  am  heartily  glad  of  that,  Marshall ;  don't  let 
it  slip  through  your  fingers  again." 

"  That  you  may  be  sure  I  won't.  I  shall  send 
them  all  home  to  our  agent  to  sell,  and  have  the  money 
put  by  for  purchasing  my  next  step.  I  have  had  my 
lesson,  and  it  will  last  me  for  life.  Well,  I  must  be 
going  now,  old  man;  the  Colonel  did  not  like  letting 
me  go,  as  of  course  the  men  want  looking  after,  and 
the  Pandies  may  make  an  effort  to  drive  us  out  of 
the  Kaiser  Bagh  again;  so  good-bye.  If  I  can  get 
away  this  evening  I  will  come  to  see  you  at  the  hos- 
pital." 

A  week  later  Frank  Mallett  was  sitting  in  a  chair 
by  his  bedside ;  the  fighting  was  all  over,  and  a  strange 
quiet  had  succeeded  the  long  roar  of  battle.  His  neck 
was  strapped  up  with  bandages,  and  save  that  he  was 
unable  to  move  his  head  in  the  slightest  degree,  he 
felt  well  enough  to  take  his  place  with  the  regiment 
again.  Many  of  his  fellow  officers  dropped  in  from 
time  to  time  for  a  short  chat,  but  the  duty  was  heavy. 
All  open  resistance  had  ceased,  but  the  troops  were 
engaged  in  searching  the  houses,  and  turning  out  all 
rough  characters  who  had  made  Lucknow  their  centre, 
and  had  no  visible  means  of  subsistence.  Large  gangs 
of  the  lower  class  population  were  set  to  work  to  bury 
the  dead,  which  would  otherwise  have  rendered  the  city 
uninhabitable.  Strong  guards  were  posted  at  night, 
alike  to  prevent  soldiers  from  wandering  in  search  of 


56  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

loot  and  to  prevent  fanatics  from  making  sudden  at- 
tacks. 

"  There  is  a  wounded  man  in  the  hospital  across 
the  road  who  wants  to  see  you,  Mallett,"  the  surgeon 
said  one  morning ;  "  he  belongs  to  your  company,  but 
as  he  only  came  out  with  the  last  draft,  and  was  trans- 
ferred only  on  the  day  that  the  fighting  began,  I  don't 
suppose  you  know  him.  He  said  I  was  to  tell  you  his 
name  was  George  Lechmere,  though  he  enlisted  as 
John  Hilton." 

"  I  seem  to  know  the  name,  doctor,  though  I  don't 
remember  at  present  where  I  came  across  him.  I  sup- 
pose I  can  go  in  to  see  him  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  there  is  no  objection  whatever.  Your 
wound  is  doing  as  well  as  can  be;  though,  of  course, 
you  are  still  weak  from  loss  of  blood.  I  shall  send 
you  up  this  afternoon  to  the  hospital  just  estab- 
lished in  the  park  of  the  Dil  Koosha.  We  shall  get 
you  all  out  as  soon  as  we  can,  for  the  stench  of 
this  town  at  present  is  dreadful,  and  wounds  can- 
not be  expected  to  do  well  in  such  a  poisoned  atmos- 
phere." 

"  Is  this  man  badly  hit,  doctor  ?  " 

"  Very  dangerously.  I  have  scarcely  a  hope  of 
saving  him,  and  think  it  probable  that  he  may  not 
live  another  twenty-four  hours.  Of  course,  he  may 
take  a  change  for  the  better.  I  will  take  you  to  him, 
I  have  finished  here  now." 

"  It  must  have  been  a  bad  time  for  you,  doctor," 
Mallett  said,  as  they  went  across. 

"  Tremendously  hard,  but  most  interesting.  I  had 
not  had  more  than  two  hours'  sleep  at  a  time  since  the 
fighting  began  till  last  night,  and  then  I  could  not 
keep  up  any  longer.  Of  course,  it  has  been  the  same 
with  us  all,  and  the  heat  has  made  it  very  trying.  I 
am  particularly  anxious  to  get  the  wounded  well  out 
of  the  place,  for  now  that  the  excitement  is  over  I  ex- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  5T 

pect  an  outbreak  of  fever  or  dysentery.  There,  that  is 
your  man  in  the  corner  bed  over  there." 

Mallett  went  over  to  the  bedside,  and  looked  at 
the  wounded  man.  His  face  was  drawn  and  pinched, 
his  eyes  sunken  in  his  head,  his  face  deadly  pale,  and 
his  hair  matted  with  perspiration. 

"  Do  you  know  me,  Captain  Mallett  ?  " 

"  No,  lad,  I  cannot  say  that  I  do,  though  when 
the  doctor  told  me  your  name  it  seemed  familiar  to 
me.  Very  likely  I  should  have  recognised  you  if  I  had 
met  you  a  week  since,  but,  you  see,  we  are  both  altered 
a  good  deal  from  the  effect  of  our  wounds." 

"  I  am  the  son  of  Farmer  Lechmere,  your  ten- 
ant." 

"  Good  heavens !  man,  you  don't  mean  to  say  you 
are  Lechmere's  eldest  son,  George!  What  in  the  world 
brought  you  to  this  ?  " 

"  You  did,"  the  man  said,  sternly ;  "  your  villainy 
brought  me  here." 

Frank  Mallett  gave  a  start  of  astonishment  that 
cost  him  so  violent  a  twinge  in  his  wound  that  he  al- 
most cried  out  with  sudden  pain. 

"  What  wild  idea  have  you  got  into  your  head, 
my  poor  fellow?"  he  said  soothingly;  "I  am  con- 
scious of  having  done  no  wrong  to  you  or  yours.  I 
saw  your  father  and  mother  on  the  afternoon  before 
I  came  away :  they  made  no  complaint  of  anything." 

"  No,  they  were  contented  enough.  Do  you  know, 
Captain  Mallett,  that  I  loved  Martha  Bennett?" 

"  No ;  I  have  been  so  little  at  home  of  recent  years 
that  I  know  very  little  of  the  private  affairs  of  my 
tenants,  but  I  remember  her,  of  course,  and  I  was 
grieved  to  learn  by  a  letter  from  Sir  John  Greendale 
the  other  day  that  in  some  strange  way  she  was 
missing." 

"  Who  knew  that  better  than  yourself  ? "  the  man 
said,  raising  himself  on  his  elbow,  and  fixing  a  look 


58  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

of  such  deadly  hatred  upon  Mallett  that  the  latter  in- 
voluntarily drew  back  a  step. 

"I  saw  you  laughing  and  talking  to  her  in  front 
of  her  father's  house;  I  heard  you  with  her  in  their 
garden  the  evening  before  you  left  and  she  disap- 
peared, and  it  was  my  voice  you  heard  in  the  lane. 
Had  I  known  that  you  were  going  that  night,  I  wouW 
have  followed  you  and  killed  you,  and  saved  her.  The 
next  morning  you  were  both  gone;  I  waited  a  time 
and  then  went  to  the  depot  of  your  regiment  and  en- 
listed: I  had  failed  to  save  her,  but  at  least  I  could 
avenge  her.  That  bullet  was  mine,  and  had  you  not 
stumbled  over  a  Pandy's  body,  I  suppose,  just  as  I 
pulled  my  trigger,  you  would  have  been  a  dead  man. 
I  did  not  know  that  I  had  failed,  and,  rushing  forward 
with  my  company,  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight.  I 
wanted  to  be  killed,  but  no  shot  struck  me,  and  at  last, 
when  chasing  a  Pandy  along  a  passage  in  the  Kaiser 
Bagh,  he  turned  and  levelled  his  piece  at  me.  Mine 
was  loaded,  and  I  could  have  shot  him  down  as  he 
turned,  but  I  stood  and  let  him  have  his  shot.  When 
I  found  myself  here  I  was  sorry  that  he  had  not  fin- 
ished me  at  once,  but  when  I  heard  that  you  were 
alive,  and  likely  to  recover,  I  thanked  him  in  my  heart 
that  he  had  left  me  a  few  more  days  of  life,  that  I  could 
let  you  know  that  it  was  I  who  had  fired,  and  that 
Martha's  wrong  had  not  been  wholly  unavenged."  He 
sank  back  exhausted  on  to  the  pillow.  Frank  Mallett 
had  made  no  attempt  to  interrupt  him:  the  sudden 
agony  of  his  wound  and  his  astonishment  at  this 
strange  accusation  had  given  him  so  grave  a  shock 
that  he  leaned  against  the  wall  behind  him  in  silent 
wonder.  , 

"  Hello !  Mallett,  what  the  deuce  is  the  matter  with 
you?"  the  surgeon  exclaimed,  as,  looking  up  from  a 
patient  over  whom  he  was  bending  a  short  distance 
away,  his  eyes  fell  on  the  officer's  face.  "  You  look 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  59 

aa  if  you  were  going  to  faint,  man.  Here,  orderly, 
some  brandy  and  water,  quickly ! " 

Frank  drank  some  of  the  brandy  and  water  and 
sat  down  for  a  few  minutes.  Then,  when  he  saw  the 
surgeon  at  the  other  end  of  the  room,  he  got  up  and 
went  across  to  Lechmere's  bed. 

"  There  is  some  terrible  mistake,  Lechmere,"  he 
said,  quietly.  "I  swear  to  you  on  my  honour  as  a 
gentleman  that  you  are  altogether  wrong.  From  the 
moment  that  I  got  into  my  dog-cart  at  Bennett's  I 
merer  saw  Martha  again.  I  know  nothing  whatever 
of  this  talk  in  the  garden.  Did  you  think  you  saw 
me  as  well  as  heard  me  ? " 

"  No,  you  were  on  one  side  of  that  high  wall  and  I 
on  the  other,  but  I  heard  enough  to  know  who  it  was. 
You  told  her  that  you  had  to  go  abroad  at  once,  but 
that  if  she  would  come  out  there  you  would  put  her 
in  charge  of  someone  until  you  could  marry  her.  You 
told  her  that  she  could  not  stay  where  she  was  long, 
and  I  knew  what  that  meant.  I  suppose  she  is  at 
Calcutta  still  waiting,  for  of  course  she  could  not 
hare  come  out  with  you.  I  suppose  that  she  is  break- 
ing her  heart  there  now — if  she  is  not  dead,  as  I  hope 
she  is." 

"  Did  you  hear  the  word  Calcutta  or  India  men- 
tioned, Lechmere  ? " 

"  No,  I  did  not,  but  I  heard  quite  enough ;  every- 
one knew  that  you  were  going  in  a  day  or  two,  and 
that  was  enough  for  me  after  what  I  had  seen  in  the 
afternoon." 

"  You  saw  nothing  in  the  afternoon,"  Captain  Mal- 
lett  said,  angrily.  "  The  girl's  father  and  mother  were 
at  home.  We  were  all  chatting  together  until  we 
came  out.  She  came  to  the  trap  with  me  while  they 
stood  at  the  open  window;  it  was  not  more  than  a 
minute  before  I  drove  off.  I  have  not  spoken  to  the 
girl  half  a  dozen  times  since  she  was  a  little  child. 


60  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

Why,  man,  if  everyone  took  such  insane  fancies  in  his 
head  as  you  do,  no  man  would  dare  to  speak  to  a 
woman  at  all.  However,"  he  went  on  in  an  altered 
voice,  "  this  is  not  a  time  for  anger.  You  are  very  ill, 
Lechmere,  but  the  doctor  has  not  given  you  up,  and  I 
trust  that  you  will  yet  get  round  and  will  be  able  to  prove 
to  your  own  satisfaction  that,  whatever  has  happened 
to  this  poor  girl,  I,  at  least,  am  wholly  innocent  of  it; 
but  should  you  not  get  over  this  hurt,  I  should  not  like 
you  to  go  to  your  grave  believing  that  I  had  done  you 
this  great  wrong.  I  speak  to  you  as  to  a  dying  man 
and  having  no  interest  in  deceiving  you,  and  I  swear 
to  you  before  Heaven  that  I  know  absolutely  nothing 
of  this.  I,  too,  may  fall  from  a  rebel  shot  before  long, 
and  I  thank  God  that  I  can  meet  you  before  Him  as 
an  innocent  man  in  this  matter.  I  must  be  going, 
for  I  see  the  doctor  coming  to  fetch  me.  Good-bye, 
lad,  we  may  not  meet  again,  though  I  trust  we  shall ; 
but  if  not,  I  give  you  my  full  forgiveness  for  that  shot 
you  fired  at  me;  it  was  the  result  of  a  strange  mistake, 
but  had  I  acted  as  you  believed,  I  should  have  well 
deserved  the  death  you  intended  for  me." 

"  Confound  it,  Mallett,  there  seems  no  end  of  mis- 
chief from  your  visit  here.  In  the  first  place,  you 
were  nearly  knocked  over  yourself,  and  now  there  is 
this  man  lying  insensible.  So  for  goodness's  sake  get 
off  to  your  room  again,  and  lie  down  and  keep  your- 
self quiet  for  the  rest  of  the  day.  I  shall  have  you 
demoralising  the  whole  ward  if  you  stay  here." 

Captain  Mallett  walked  back  with  a  much  feebler 
and  less  steady  step  than  that  with  which  he  had 
entered  the  hospital.  He  had  some  doubts  whether 
the  man  who  had  made  this  strange  accusation  and 
had  so  nearly  taken  his  life  was  really  sane,  and 
whether  he  had  not  altogether  imagined  the  conversa- 
tion which  he  declared  he  had  heard  in  the  garden. 
He  remembered  now  the  sudden  way  in  which  George 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  61 

Lechmere  had  turned  round  and  gone  away  when  he 
saw  him  saying  good-bye  to  Martha,  and  how  she  had 
shrugged  her  shoulders  in  contempt. 

The  man  must  either  be  mad  or  of  a  frightfully 
jealous  disposition  to  conjure  up  harm  out  of  such 
an  incident,  and  one  who  would  do  so  might  well,  when 
his  brain  was  on  fire,  conjure  up  this  imaginary  con- 
versation. Still,  he  might  have  heard  some  man  talk- 
ing to  her.  From  what  Sir  John  had  said,  she  did 
leave  the  house  and  go  into  the  garden  about  that 
hour,  and  she  certainly  never  returned. 

He  remembered  all  about  George  Lechmere  now. 
He  had  the  reputation  of  being  the  best  judge  of  cattle 
in  the  neighbourhood,  and  a  thoroughly  steady  fellow, 
but  he  could  see  no  resemblance  in  the  shrunk  and 
wasted  face  to  that  he  remembered. 

That  evening  both  the  officers  and  men  in  the  hos- 
pital were  carried  away  to  the  new  one  outside  the 
town.  When  the  doctor  came  in  before  they  were, 
moved  he  told  Mallett  that  the  man  he  had  seen  had 
recovered  from  his  swoon. 

"  He  was  very  nearly  gone,"  he  said,  "  but  we  man- 
aged to  get  him  round,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  he  has 
been  better  since.  I  don't  know  what  he  said  to  you 
or  you  to  him,  and  I  don't  want  to  know ;  but  he  seems 
to  have  got  something  off  his  mind.  He  is  less  fever- 
ish than  he  was,  and  I  have  really  some  faint  hopes 
of  pulling  him  through,  especially  as  he  will  now  be 
in  a  more  healthful  atmosphere." 

It  ..is  a  comfort  indeed  to  all  the  wounded  when 
late  i hit  evening  they  lay  on  beds  in  the  h^-pital 
marquees.  The  air  seemed  deliriously  cod  r~"l  frnsh, 
and  there  was  a  feeling  of  quiet  and  restf^1-^^  that 
was  impossible  in  the  town,  with  the  constri:^  ^n^ve- 
ment  of  troops,  the  sound  of  falling  masonry,  t!ri  dust 
and  fetid  odour  of  decay. 

A  week  later  the  surgeon  told  Mallett  that  he  had 
5 


62  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

now  hopes  that  the  soldier  he  was  interested  in  would 
recover. 

"  The  chances  were  a  hundred  to  one  against  him," 
he  said,  "  but  the  one  chance  has  come  off." 

"  Will  he  be  fit  for  service  again,  doctor  ? " 

"Yes,  I  don't  see  why  he  should  not  be,  though 
it  will  be  a  long  time  before  he  can  carry  his  kit  and 
arms  on  a  long  day's  march.  It  is  hot  enough  now, 
but  we  have  not  got  to  the  worst  by  a  long  way,  and 
as  there  is  still  a  vast  amount  of  work  to  be  done,  I 
expect  that  the  regiment  will  be  off  again  before  long." 

"  Well,  at  any  rate,  I  shall  be  able  to  go  with  you, 
doctor." 

"I  don't  quite  say  that,  Mallett,"  the  doctor  said, 
doubtfully ;  "  in  another  fortnight  your  wound  will 
be  healed  so  that  you  will  be  capable  of  ordinary  duty, 
but  certainly  not  long  marches.  If  you  do  go  you  will 
have  to  ride.  There  must  be  no  more  marching  with 
your  company  for  some  time." 

A  week  later  orders  were  issued  under  which  the 
regiment  was  appointed  to  form  part  of  the  force 
which,  under  the  command  of  General  Walpole,  was  to 
undertake  a  campaign  against  Rohilcund,  a  district  in 
which  the  great  majority  of  the  rebels  who  had  es- 
caped from  Lucknow  had  now  established  themselves. 
Unfortunately,  the  extent  of  the  city  and  the  necessity 
for  the  employment  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  British 
force  in  the  actual  assault,  had  prevented  anything 
like  a  complete  investment  of  the  town,  and  the  con- 
sequence had  been  that  after  the  fall  of  the  Kaiser 
Bagh,  by  far  the  greater  portion  of  the  rebel  force  in 
the  city  had  been  able  to  march  away  without  molesta- 
tion. 

Before  leaving,  Mallett  had  an  interview  with 
George  Lechmere,  who  was  now  out  of  danger. 

"  I  should  have  known  you  now,  Lechmere,"  he 
said,  as  he  came  to  his  bedside.  "  Of  course  you  are 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  63 

Still  greatly  changed,  but  you  are  getting  back  your 
old  expression,  and  I  hope  that  in  the  course  of  two 
or  three  months  you  will  be  able  to  take  your  place 
in  the  ranks  again." 

"  I  don't  know,  sir ;  I  ain't  fit  to  stay  with  the  regi- 
ment, and  have  thought  of  being  invalided  home  and 
then  buying  my  discharge.  I  know  you  have  said 
nothing  as  to  how  you  got  that  wound,  not  even  to 
the  doctor;  for  if  you  had  done  so  there  is  not  a  man 
in  hospital  who  would  have  spoken  to  me.  But  how 
could  I  join  the  regiment  again,  knowing  that  if  there 
was  any  suspicion  of  what  I  had  done,  every  man  would 
draw  away  from  me,  and  that  there  would  be  nothing 
for  me  to  do  but  to  put  a  bullet  in  my  head." 

"  But  no  one  ever  will  know  it.  It  was  a  mad  act, 
and  I  believe  you  were  partly  mad  at  the  time." 

"  I  think  so  myself  now  that  I  look  back.  I  think 
now  that  I  must  have  been  mad  all  along.  It  never 
once  entered  my  mind  to  doubt  that  it  was  you,  and 
now  I  see  plainly  enough  that  except  what  the  man 
said  about  going  away — and  anyone  might  have  said 
that — there  was  not  a  shadow  of  ground  or  suspicion 
against  you.  But  even  if  I  had  never  had  that  sus- 
picion I  should  have  left  home.  Why,  sir,  I  know 
that  my  own  father  and  mother  suspected  that  I  killed 
her.  I  resented  it  at  the  time;  I  felt  hard  and  bitter 
against  it,  but  as  I  have  been  lying  here  I  have  come 
to  see  that  I  brought  their  suspicions  upon  myself  by 
my  own  conduct,  and  that  they  had  a  thousand  times 
better  ground  for  suspecting  me  than  I  had  for  sus- 
pecting you. 

"All  that  happened  was  my  fault.  Martha  cared 
for  me  once,  but  it  was  my  cursed  jealousy  that  drove 
her  from  me.  She  was  gay  and  light-hearted,  and  it 
was  natural  for  her  to  take  her  pleasure,  which  was 
harmless  enough  if  I  had  not  made  a  grievance  of  it. 
If  I  had  not  driven  her  from  me  she  would  have  been 


Q±  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

my  wife  long  before  harm  came  to  her;  but  it  was 
as  well  that  it  was  not  so,  for  as  I  was  then  I  know 
I  should  have  made  her  life  a  hell.  I  did  it  all  and  I 
have  been  punished  for  it.  Even  at  the  end  she  might 
never  have  gone  off  if  I  had  not  shouted  out  and  tried 
to  climb  the  wall.  She  must  have  recognised  my 
voice,  and,  knowing  that  I  had  her  secret,  feared  that 
I  might  kill  her  and  him  too,  and  so  she  went.  She 
would  not  have  gone  as  she  did  without  even  a  bonnet 
or  a  shawl  if  it  had  not  been  for  that." 

"  Then  you  don't  think,  as  most  people  there  do, 
that  she  was  murdered  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit,  sir.  I  never  thought  so  for  a  moment. 
She  went  straight  away  with  that  man.  I  think  now  I 
know  who  it  was." 

"  Never  mind  about  that,  Lechmere.  You  know 
what  the  Bible  says,  '  Vengeance  is  mine,  saith  the 
Lord,'  and  whoever  it  may  be,  leave  him  safely  in 
God's  hands." 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  shall  try  to  act  up  to  that.  I  was 
fool  enough  to  think  that  I  could  avenge  her,  and  a 
nice  business  I  made  of  it." 

"  Well,  I  think  it  is  nonsense  of  you  to  think  of 
leaving  the  regiment.  There  is  work  to  be  done  here. 
There  is  the  work  of  punishing  men  who  have  com- 
mitted the  most  atrocious  crimes;  there  is  the  work 
of  winning  back  India  for  England.  Every  English- 
man out  here,  who  can  carry  a  weapon,  ought  to  re- 
main at  his  post  until  the  work  is  done.  As  to  this 
wound  of  mine,  that  is  a  matter  between  us  only.  As 
I  have  told  you,  I  have  altogether  forgiven  you,  and 
<',  am  not  even  disposed  greatly  to  blame  you,  thinking, 
•£  as  you  did,  that  I  was  responsible  for  that  poor  girl's 
j  flight.  I  shall  never  mention  it  to  a  soul.  I  have  al- 
ready put  it  out  of  my  mind,  therefore  it  is  as  if  it 
had  never  been  done,  and  there  is  no  reason  whatever 
why  you  should  shrink  from  companionship  with  your 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  65 

comrades.  I  shall  think  much  better  of  you  for  doing 
your  duty  like  a  man,  than  if  you  went  home  again  and 
shrank  from  it." 

"  You  are  too  good,  sir,  altogether  too  good." 

"  Nonsense,  man ;  besides,  you  have  to  remember 
that  you  have  not  gone  unpunished.  Had  it  not  been 
for  your  feeling,  after  you  had,  as  you  believed,  killed 
me,  you  never  would  have  stood  and  let  that  Sepoy 
shoot  you;  so  that  all  the  pain  that  you  have  been 
going  through,  and  may  still  have  to  go  through  be- 
fore you  are  quite  cured,  is  a  punishment  that  you 
have  yourself  accepted.  After  a  man  has  once  been 
punished  for  a  crime  there  is  an  end  of  it,  and  you 
need  grieve  no  further  over  it;  but  it  will  be  a  lesson 
that  I  hope  and  believe  you  will  never  forget.  Hackett, 
who  has  been  my  soldier  servant  for  the  last  five  years, 
was  killed  in  the  fight  in  the  Kaiser  Bagh;  if  you 
like,  when  you  rejoin,  I  shall  apply  for  you  in  his 
stead.  It  will  make  your  work  a  good  deal  easier  for 
you,  and  I  should  like  to  have  the  son  of  one  of  my 
old  tenants  about  me." 

The  man  burst  into  tears. 

"  There,  don't  let's  say  anything  more  about  it," 
Mallett  went  on,  taking  the  thin  hand  of  the  soldier 
in  his ;  "  we  will  consider  it  settled,  and  I  shall  look 
out  for  you  in  a  couple  of  months,  so  get  well  as  quick 
as  you  can,  and  don't  worry  yourself  by  thinking  of 
the  past.  I  must  be  off  now,  for  I  have  to  take  down 
a  party  of  convalescents  to  rejoin  this  evening.  Good- 
bye, lad,"  and  without  waiting  for  any  reply,  he  turned 
and  left  the  marquee. 


CHAPTER   V. 

"  IT  is  little  more  than  two  years  and  a  half,  since 
I  left,  Lechmere,  but  it  seems  almost  a  lifetime." 

"It  does  seem  a  time,  Major;  we  must  have 
marched  thousands  of  miles,  and  I  could  not  say  how 
many  times  we  have  been  engaged.  There  has  not 
been  a  week  that  we  have  not  had  a  fight,  and  some- 
times two  or  three  of  them." 

"  Well,  thank  God,  we  are  back  again.  Still  I  am 
glad  to  have  been  through  it." 

"  So  am  I,  sir.  It  will  be  something  to  look  back 
on,  and  it  is  curious  to  think  that  while  we  have  been 
seeing  and  doing  so  much,  father  and  my  brother  Bob 
have  just  been  going  about  over  the  farm,  and  seeing 
to  the  cattle  and  looking  after  the  animals  day  in  and 
day  out,  without  ever  going  away  save  to  market  two 
or  three  times  a  month  at  Chippenham." 

"  And  you  have  quite  made  up  your  mind  to  stay 
with  me,  Lechmere  ?  " 

"  Quite,  sir ;  short  of  your  turning  me  off,  there 
is  nothing  that  would  get  me  away  from  you.  No  one- 
could  be  happier  than  I  have  been  ever  since  I  re- 
joined after  that  wound.  It  has  not  been  like  master 
and  servant,  sir;  you  have  just  treated  me  as  if  you 
had  been  the  squire  and  I  had  been  your  tenant's  son, 
and  that  nothing  had  ever  come  between  us.  You 
have  made  a  man  of  me  again,  and  I  only  wish 
that  I  had  more  opportunities  of  showing  you  how  I 
feel  it." 

"You  have  had  opportunities  enough,  and  you 
66 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  67 

have  made  the  most  of  them.  You  were  by  my  side 
when  I  entered  that  house  where  there  were  a  score  of 
desperate  rebels,  and  it  would  have  gone  hard  with 
us  if  aid  had  not  come  up.  You  stood  over  me  when 
I  was  knocked  down  by  that  charge  of  rebel  cavalry, 
and  got  half  a  dozen  wounds  before  the  Hussars  swept 
down  and  drove  them  back." 

"  I  was  well  paid  for  that,  sir,"  the  man  said  with 
a  smile. 

"  Yes,  you  got  the  Victoria  Cross,  and  no  man  ever 
won  it  more  fairly.  But,  after  all,  it  was  not  so  much 
by  such  things  as  these  that  you  showed  your  feel- 
ings, Lechmere,  as  by  your  constant  and  faithful  serv- 
ice and  by  the  care  with  which  you  looked  after  me. 
Still,  as  I  told  you  before,  I  don't  like  standing  in 
your  way.  In  the  natural  course  of  things  you  would 
have  had  your  father's  farm,  and  there  is  now  no 
reason  why  you  should  not  go  back  there." 

"No,  sir;  since  we  heard  that  that  poor  girl  came 
back  home  and  died,  there  is  no  reason  why  I  should 
not  go  back  to  the  old  place,  but  I  don't  like  to.  Two 
years  of  such  a  life  as  we  have  been  leading  does  not 
fit  one  for  farm  work.  Brother  Bob  stopped  and  took 
my  place  while  I  went  soldiering,  and  even  if  I  were 
willing  to  go  back  to  it,  which  I  am  not,  it  would  not 
be  fair  to  him  for  me  to  step  in  just  as  if  nothing  had 
happened.  But,  anyhow,  I  shall  be  glad  to  be  back 
again  at  the  old  place  and  see  them  all.  Father  and 
mother  will  know  now  that  they  suspected  me  wrongly. 
But  they  were  not  to  blame.  Mad  as  I  was  then,  I 
might  have  done  it  if  I  had  had  the  chance." 

"  Well,  Lechmere,  you  know  well  that  I  shall  be 
always  glad  to  have  you  with  me  as  long  as  you  are 
willing  to  stay.  Perhaps  the  time  will  come  when 
you  may  wish  to  make  a  home  for  yourself,  and  you 
may  be  sure  that  the  first  fann  on  the  estate  that 
falls  vacant  shall  be  yours,  or,  as  that  does  not  very 


flg  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

often  happen,  I  will  see  that  you  get  a  good  one  some- 
where in  the  neighbourhood." 

The  man  shook  his  head,  and  without  answering 
went  on  unpacking  his  master's  portmanteau.  They 
were  at  the  Hummums  Hotel,  in  Covent  Garden,  and 
had  arrived  half  an  hour  before  by  the  evening  train, 
having  come  overland  from  Marseilles.  Two  years' 
soldiering  had  greatly  altered  George  Lechmere.  He 
had  lost  the  heavy  step  caused  by  tramping  over 
ploughed  fields,  and  was  a  well  set-up,  alert  and  smart- 
looking  soldier;  and  although  now  in  civilian  clothes 
— for  his  master  had  bought  him  out  of  the  service 
when  he  sent  in  his  own  papers — no  one  could  avoid 
seeing  that  he  had  served,  for  in  addition  to  the  mili- 
tary carriage  there  was  the  evidence  of  two  deep  scars 
on  his  face,  the  handiwork  of  the  mutineers'  sabres 
on  the  day  when  he  had  stood  over  his  master  sur- 
rounded by  rebel  horse.  His  complexion  was  deeply 
bronzed  by  the  sun,  and  there  was  that  steady  but 
watchful  expression  in  his  eyes  that  is  characteristic 
of  men  who  have  gone  through  long  and  dangerous 
service. 

"  I  shall  stay  two  or  three  days  in  town,"  Major 
Mallett  said;  "I  must  get  an  entire  refit  before  I  go 
down.  You  had  better  come  round  with  me  to  the 
tailor's  to-morrow,  the  first  thing  after  breakfast;  you 
will  want  three  or  four  suits,  too." 

"Yes,  sir.  And  besides,  they  would  like  to  know 
down  there  when  you  are  coming  home;  they  are  sure 
to  want  to  give  you  a  welcome." 

"  And  you,  too,  Lechmere.  I  am  sure  that  all  your 
old  friends  will  give  you  as  hearty  a  welcome  as  they 
will  give  me.  Indeed,  it  ought  to  be  a  good  deal  hearti- 
er, for  you  have  been  living  among  them  all  your  life, 
while  I  have  been  away  for  the  most  part  ever  since 
I  was  a  boy." 

Four  days  later  they  went  down  to  Chippenham. 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  69 

Mr.  Norton,  the  steward,  was  on  the  platform  when, 
the  train  came  in. 

"  Welcome  home  again,  sir,"  he  said  warmly,  as* 
Frank  stepped  from  the  carriage;  "we  were  all  glad 
indeed  when  we  heard  that  you  were  back  safe,  and 
were  coming  down  among  us." 

"  I  am  glad  enough  to  be  back  again,  Norton," 
Frank  Mallett  said,  as  he  shook  the  man's  hand,  "  we 
had  warm  work  of  it  for  a  bit,  but  at  the  end,  when 
the  excitement  was  over,  one  got  pretty  tired  of  it. 
This  is  George  Lechmere,  Norton,"  the  Major  said, 
as  he  went  along  with  the  agent  to  where  George  was 
standing  with  the  pile  of  luggage;  "you  have  heard 
how  gallantly  he  behaved,  and  how  he  saved  my  life  at 
the  risk  of  his  own." 

"  How  are  you,  George  ? "  the  agent  said,  as  he 
shook  hands  with  him ;  "  I  should  hardly  have  known 
you;  indeed,  I  am  sure  I  should  not  have  done  so  if 
I  had  met  you  in  the  street;  you  seem  to  have  grown 
taller  and  altogether  different." 

"I  have  lost  flesh  a  bit,  Mr.  Norton,  and  I  have 
learnt  to  stand  upright,  and  I  shall  be  some  time  be- 
fore I  get  rid  of  this  paint  the  sun  has  given  me." 

"  Yes,  you  are«  as  brown  as  a  berry,  George ;  we 
saw  in  the  gazette  about  your  getting  the  Victoria 
Cross  in  saving  the  squire's  life;  I  can  tell  you  every 
man  on  the  estate  felt  proud  of  you.  Are  you  ready 
to  be  off,  sir?" 

"  Yes ;  I  suppose  you  have  got  the  dog-cart  out- 
side, as  I  asked  you  ?  " 

"  Well,  no,  sir,"  the  agent  said,  in  a  tone  of  some 
embarrassment,  "  you  see  the  tenants  had  made  up 
their  minds  that  you  ought  to  come  in  a  different 
sort  of  style,  and  so  without  asking  me  about  it  they 
ordered  an  open  carriage  to  be  here  to  meet  you.  I 
knew  nothing  about  it  until  last  night;  the  dog-cart 
is  here  and  will  take  up  your  luggage." 


70  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  Well,  I  suppose  it  cannot  be  helped,"  Mallett 
laughed.  "  Of  course,  they  meant  it  kindly." 

"  I  will  see  the  luggage  got  in  the  dog-cart  and 
come  over  with  it,"  Lechmere  said. 

"  You  can  see  it  into  the  dog-cart,  George,  but  you 
must  come  with  me;  I  have  got  to  put  up  with  it,  and 
you  must,  too." 

He  stood  chatting  with  Mr.  Norton  on  the  plat- 
form till  George  returned  and  said  that  the  luggage 
was  all  packed,  and  that  the  dog-cart  had  gone  011 
ahead.  There  was  an  amused  look  011  his  face,  which 
was  explained  when,  on  going  out,  Mallett  found  an 
open  carriage  with  four  horses,  with  postillions  in  new 
purple  silk  jackets  and  orange  caps,  and  large  rosettes 
of  the  same  colour  at  the  horses'  heads. 

"  Bless  me,"  said  the  Major,  in  a  tone  of  dismay, 
"  I  shall  feel  as  if  I  were  a  candidate  for  the  county." 

"  They  are  the  family  colours,  you  see,  sir." 

"  Yes,  I  know,  Norton,  and  the  Conservative  col- 
ours, too;  well  it  cannot  be  helped,  and  it  does  not 
make  much  difference  after  all;  there  will  be  no  fuss 
when  I  get  there  I  hope,  Norton,"  he  went  on,  as  he 
took  his  place,  and  Lechmere  climbed  up  into  the  seat 
behind. 

"  Well,  sir,"  the  agent  said,  apologetically,  "  there 
is  an  arch  or  two;  you  see,  the  tenants  wanted  to  do 
the  thing  properly,  and  the  school  children  will  be 
on  the  lawn,  and  there  are  going  to  be  some  bonfires  in 
the  evening,  and  they  have  got  a  big  box  of  fireworks 
down  from  London.  Why,  sir,  it  would  be  strange  if 
they  did  not  give  you  a  welcome  after  going  through 
all  that,  and  being  wounded  three  times  and  getting 
so  much  credit.  Why,  it  wouldn't  be  English,  sir." 

"  I  suppose  it's  all  right,"  Mallett  said,  resignedly ; 
"  and,  indeed,  Norton,  one  cannot  help  being  pleased 
at  seeing  one's  tenants  glad  to  have  one  home  again." 

In  half-an-hour's  drive  they  arrived  at  the  bound- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  71 

ary  of  the  estate.  Here  an  arch  had  been  erected,  and 
a  score  of  the  tenants  and  tenants'  sons,  assembled 
on  horseback,  gave  a  loud  cheer  as  the  carriage  drove 
up,  and  as  it  died  away  one  shouted,  "  Why,  that  is 
George  Lechmere  behind ;  give  him  a  cheer,  too ;  "  and 
again  a  hearty  shout  went  up.  The  carriage  stopped, 
and  Major  Mallett  said  a  few  words,  thanking  them 
heartily  for  the  welcome  they  had  given  him,  and  as- 
suring them  what  pleasure  it  was  to  him  to  be  back 
again.  "  I  thank  you,  also,"  he  concluded,  "  for  the 
cheer  that  you  have  given  to  my  faithful  comrade  and 
friend,  George  Lechmere.  As  you  all  know,  he  saved 
my  life  at  the  risk  of  his  own,  and  has  received  the 
greatest  honour  a  soldier  can  gain — the  Victoria  Cross. 
You  have  a  good  right  to  be  proud  of  him  as  one  of 
yourselves,  and  to  give  him  a  hearty  welcome." 

The  carriage  then  drove  on  again,  the  farmers  rid- 
ing close  behind  as  an  escort.  At  the  entrance  of  the 
drive  up  to  the  house  another  and  larger  arch  had 
been  erected.  Here  the  rest  of  the  tenants  and  the 
women  were  collected,  and  there  was  another  hearty 
greeting,  and  another  speech  from  Mallett.  Then  they 
drove  up  to  the  house,  where  a  number  of  the  gentry- 
had  assembled  to  welcome  him.  After  shaking  hands 
and  chatting  with  these  for  a  short  time,  Frank  went 
round  among  the  tenants,  saying  a  few  words  to  each. 
When  he  had  done  this  he  invited  them  all  to  a  dinner 
on  the  lawn  that  day  week,  and  then  went  into  the 
house,  where  the  steward  had  prepared  a  meal.  Among 
the  familiar  faces  Frank  missed  those  he  would  most 
gladly  have  seen.  He  had  a  year  before  received  a 
letter  from  Lady  Greendare,  telling  him  of  Sir  John's 
sudden  death,  and  had  learned  from  the  steward  dur- 
ing the  drive  that  she  and  her  daughter  were  in 
London. 

"  They  went  there  a  mouth  ago,"  he  said ;  "  a  year 
had  passed  after  Sir  Jobu'i  death,  and  people  say  that 


72  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

it  is  not  likely  that  they  will  be  much  at  home  again 
for  some  time;  Lady  Greendale  has  high  connections 
in  London,  as  you  know,  sir." 

"  Yes,  she  was  a  daughter  of  Lord  Huntinglen, 
Norton." 

"  Yes,  sir,  they  always  went  up  to  town  for  the 
season;  and  they  say  Lady  Greendale  liked  London 
better  than  the  country,  and  now  that  Miss  Bertha  is 
out — for  she  was  presented  at  Court  a  fortnight  ago — 
people  think  they  won't  be  much  down  at  Greendale 
for  the  present." 

"  Has  Miss  Greendale  grown  up  pretty  ?  I  thought 
she  would,  but,  of  course,  when  I  went  away  she  was 
only  a  girl,  not  fully  developed." 

"  She  is  a  beautiful  young  lady,  sir ;  everyone  says 
she  is  quite  the  belle  of  the  county.  Folks  reckon  she 
will  make  a  great  match.  She  is  very  well  liked,  too; 
pleasant  and  nice  without  a  bit  of  pride  about  her, 
and  very  high-spirited,  and  I  should  say,  full  of  fun, 
though  of  course  the  place  has  been  pretty  well  shut 
up  for  the  last  year.  For  four  months  after  Sir  John's 
death  they  went  away  travelling,  and  were  only  at 
home  for  a  few  weeks  before  they  went  up  to  London 
the  other  day,  in  time  for  the  first  Drawing-room." 

"  I  suppose  we  shall  not  see  much  of  you  for  a  time, 
Mallett  ? "  one  of  his  friends  said,  as  they  sat  at 
luncheon. 

"  No,  I  don't  suppose  I  shall  be  able  to  settle  down 
for  a  bit.  After  the  life  I  have  led,  I  am  afraid  that 
I  shall  find  the  time  hang  heavily  on  my  hands  alone 
here." 

"You  must  bring  home  a  wife,  Major  Mallett," 
one  of  the  ladies  said. 

"  That  is  looking  quite  into  the  dim  future,  Mrs. 
Herbert,"  he  laughed.  "  You  see,  since  I  first  went 
on  active  service  I  have  been  removed  altogether  from 
feminine  attractions.  Of  course  I  have  been  think- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  73 

ing  it  over,  but  for  the  present  my  inclination  turns 
towards  yachting.  I  have  always  been  fond  of  the 
water,  and  had  a  strong  wish  to  go  to  sea  when  I  was 
a  boy,  but  that  aspiration  was  not  encouraged.  How- 
ever, I  can  follow  my  bent  now.  Norton  has  been 
piling  up  money  for  me  in  my  absence,  and  I  can  afford 
myself  the  luxury  of  a  big  yacht.  Of  course  I  shall 
be  in  no  hurry  about  it;  I  shall  either  build  or  buy 
a  biggish  craft,  for  racing  in  summer  and  cruising 
in  winter." 

"  That  means  that  you  won't  be  here  at  all,  Major 
Mallett" 

"  Oh,  no,  it  does  not  mean  that,  I  can  assure  you ; 
I  shall  run  down  for  a  month  three  or  four  times  a 
year,  say  for  shooting  in  September  or  October,  and 
for  hunting  a  month  or  two  later  on;  besides,  I  have 
to  renew  my  acquaintance  with  my  tenants  and  see 
that  everything  is  going  on  comfortably.  I  expect  that 
I  shall  spend  four  or  five  months  every  year  on  the 
estate." 

"  Till  you  settle  down  for  good  ?  " 

"  Yes,  till  I  settle  down  for  good,"  he  laughed.  "  I 
suppose  it  will  have  to  be  some  day." 

"Then  you  don't  think  of  passing  much  time  in 
London,  Mallett?" 

"No,  indeed;  fortunately  my  father  sold  his  town 
house  three  years  ago;  he  did  not  care  about  going 
up,  and  of  course  it  was  of  no  use  to  me;  I  have  never 
had  any  opportunities  for  society,  and  my  present  idea 
is  that  it  would  bore  me  horribly.  But  I  dare  say 
that  I  shall  be  there  for  a  month  or  so  in  the  season. 
Of  course,  there  is  my  club  to  go  to  and  plenty  of 
men  one  knows,  but  even  if  I  had  a  longing  for  soci- 
ety, I  know  no  one  in  what  are  termed  fashionable 
circles,  and  so  should  be  outside  what  is  called  the 
world." 

"  Oh,  you  would  soon  get  over  that,  Major  Mai- 


74  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

lett;  why,  Lady  Greendale  would  introduce  you  every- 
where." 

"  It  is  not  likely  I  shall  trouble  her  to  do  that," 
Mallett  answered. 

Frank  had  told  George  Lechmere  that  as  soon  as 
they  arrived  he  would  be  at  liberty  to  go  off  at  once 
to  his  father  and  mother. 

"  Stay  as  long  as  you  like,"  he  said.  "  I  shall  get 
on  very  well  without  you  for  a  few  days." 

"  I  shall  come  up  again  to-night,  sir,  and  get  your 
things  brushed  and  your  bath  ready  in  the  morning; 
I  should  not  be  comfortable  if  I  did  not  do  that.  Then 
after  breakfast,  if  you  do  not  want  me,  I  can  go  to 
the  farm  for  a  few  hours.  Of  course  I  shall  have  lots 
to  tell  the  old  people  about  India.  But  for  that  I  don't 
know  what  I  should  do  to  pass  the  time  away  with  no 
work  on  hand." 

"  Oh,  you  will  have  your  old  friends  to  look  up, 
George;  after  being  over  two  years  on  service,  you 
have  a  right  to  a  month's  leave.  As  you  have  got  your 
six  months'  batta  in  hand  besides  your  savings,  you 
have  enough  cash  to  go  on  with;  but  when  you  want 
money,  you  know  that  you  have  only  to  speak  to  me." 

"  I  have  a  good  bit,  sir ;  I  have  scarcely  spent  a 
penny  since  I  joined,  and  in  the  two  years  have  laid 
by  a  nice  little  sum.  Besides,  we  all  picked  up  a  bit; 
most  of  those  native  chiefs  and  their  followers  had 
money  or  jewels  about  them,  and  all  of  us  got  some- 
thing; some  good  prizes.  So  one  way  or  another  I 
have  made  as  much  or  more  in  the  two  years'  soldier- 
ing as  I  should  have  done  in  two  years'  farming;  but 
if  I  had  not  above  a  few  shillings  in  my  pocket,  I 
should  do  well  here,  for  I  have  no  occasion  to  spend 
any  money  with  all  my  friends  wanting  me  to  go 
round  to  see  them  and  tell  them  of  our  doings." 

"  Found  everything  going  on  satisfactorily  at  home, 
George!" 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  75 

"Yes,  sir,  all  well.  Bob  has  turned  out  a  great 
help  to  my  father;  I  was  sure  he  would  do  well  when 
he  got  the  chance.  Of  course,  so  long  as  I  was  there 
he  had  not  much  responsibility,  but  I  could  see  then 
that  he  would  make  a  good  farmer.  Things  have  been 
going  on  just  as  well  as  when  I  was  at  home." 

"  Are  you  going  over  there  now  ?  " 

"Not  until  after  breakfast,  sir,  anyhow.  I  told 
them  that  I  might  look  in  some  time  in  the  morning, 
but  that  I  could  not  say  whether  you  might  want  me 
for  anything." 

"No,  I  shan't  want  you  at  all,  George;  I  told  you 
so  yesterday.  However,  after  breakfast  I  will  walk 
over  to  the  farm  with  you.  I  only  had  time  for  a  word 
with  your  father  yesterday,  but  I  told  him  that  I  would 
come  over  to  see  them  some  time  to-day." 

Accordingly,  after  an  hour's  talk  with  his  agent, 
Frank  Mallett  walked  over  to  the  farm  with  George. 
The  latter's  father  and  mother  were  both  in  the  house, 
an  unusual  thing  at  that  time  of  day  with  the  former, 
but  he  had  said  at  breakfast  to  his  son,  "  You  must 
look  after  things  by  yourself  to-day,  lad;  the  Squire 
said  yesterday  that  he  would  come  over  some  time, 
and  I  would  not  be  out  when  he  came,  not  for  a  twenty 
pound  note." 

He  and  his  wife  came  to  the  door  when  they  saw 
Frank  coming  across  the  field  towards  the  house. 
"Well,  Lechmere,"  the  latter  said,  when  he  came  up, 
"  I  am  glad  to  see  you  and  your  dame  looking  so  well 
and  hearty.  I  had  not  time  to  say  more  than  a  word  to 
you  yesterday,  and  I  wanted  to  have  a  comfortable 
talk  with  you  both.  I  wrote  you  a  line  telling  you 
how  gallantly  George  had  behaved,  and  how  he  had 
saved  my  life;  but  I  had  to  write  the  day  afterwards, 
and  my  head  was  still  ringing  from  the  sabre  cut  that 
had  for  a  time  knocked  all  the  sense  out  of  me.  and 
therefore  I  had  to  cut  it  very  short.  How  gallantly 


76  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

he  defended  my  life  against  a  dozen  of  the  enemy's 
cavalry  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  received  the 
Victoria  Cross,  and  I  can  tell  you  that  such  an  im- 
mense number  of  brave  deeds  were  performed  during 
the  Mutiny  that  George's  must  be  considered  an  ex- 
traordinary act  of  bravery  to  have  obtained  for  him 
that  honour." 

By  this  time  they  had  entered  the  farmhouse  par- 
lour. George  had  not  followed  them  in,  but  on  in- 
quiring where  he  was  likely  to  find  Bob,  had  gone  off 
to  join  him. 

"  I  was  proud  to  hear  it  at  the  time,  Squire ;  and 
when  it  was  in  the  papers  that  our  George  had  got 
the  Victoria  Cross,  and  all  our  neighbours  came  in 
to  congratulate  us,  we  felt  prouder  still.  Up  to  the 
time  when  we  got  your  letter  we  did  not  know  for  sure 
•where  he  was.  He  had  said  he  meant  to  enlist,  and 
from  the  humour  that  he  was  in  when  he  went  away 
we  guessed  it  to  be  in  some  regiment  where  he  could 
get  to  the  wars.  We  felt  the  more  glad,  as  you  may 
guess,  from  the  fact  that  both  the  Missus  and  I  had 
wronged  him  in  our  thoughts.  We  learnt  that  before 
we  got  the  news,  and  it  was  not  until  we  knew  that  we 
had  been  wrong  that  either  of  us  opened  our  lips  about 
it,  though  each  of  us  knew  what  the  other  thought." 

"I  know  what  you  mean,  Lechmere.  He  told  me 
all  about  it." 

"Well,  Squire,  you  may  be  sure,  when  we  knew 
that  we  had  wronged  him,  how  the  wife  and  I  fretted 
that  we  did  not  know  where  to  write  to,  nor  how  to 
set  about  finding  out  where  he  was,  and  so  you  can 
guess  how  pleased  we  were  when  we  heard  from  you 
that  he  was  with  your  regiment,  and  that  he  had  saved 
your  life  at  the  risk  of  his  own.  We  did  not  know 
then,  Squire,  that  if  he  had  had  twenty  lives  he  would 
have  done  right  to  have  risked  them  all  for  you.  He 
told  us  the  whole  story  yesterday — just  to  mother,  me 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  77 

and  Bob.  I  can't  tell  you  yet,  Squire,  what  we  thought 
of  it.  I  do  not  know  that  I  shall  ever  be  able  to  tell 
you,  and  we  shall  never  cease  to  thank  the  good  Lord 
for  saving  George  from,  being  a  murderer  in  his  mad- 
ness— a  murderer  of  our  own  Squire — and  to  bless  you, 
Major,  that  you  should  not  only  have  forgiven  him  and 
kept  his  crime  from  everyone,  but  should  have  taken 
him  in  hand,  as  he  says,  as  if  it  had  never  happened." 

"  There  was  no  occasion  for  him  to  have  said  any- 
thing about  it,  Lechmere;  he  was  undoubtedly  more  or 
less  mad  at  the  time.  Upon  the  whole,  I  think  that 
the  affair  has  made  him  a  better  man.  Up  to  the  time 
when  he  saved  my  life  he  did  his  duty  as  a  soldier  well, 
and  was  a  most  devoted  servant  to  me,  but  the  weight 
of  this  business  pressed  heavily  upon  him,  and  in  spite 
of  all  I  could  say  he  held  himself  aloof  as  much  aa 
possible  from  his  comrades;  but  after  that  he  changed 
altogether;  he  felt,  as  he  told  me,  that  God  would  not 
have  given  him  this  opportunity  of  saving  the  life 
that  he  had  so  nearly  taken  had  He  not  forgiven  him, 
and  his  spirits  rose,  and  while  before  he  certainly  was 
not  popular  among  his  comrades — a  reserved  man  never 
is — he  became  a  general  favourite. 

"  The  officers,  of  course,  showed  a  good  deal  of  in- 
terest in  him  after  what  he  had  done;  he  could  hare 
been  a  sergeant  in  the  course  of  a  month,  but  he  re- 
fused corporal's  stripes  when  they  were  offered  to  him 
on  the  day  after  the  battle,  saying  that  he  preferred  re- 
maining with  me,  though  the  Colonel  told  him  that 
after  what  he  had  done  he  would  stand  a  good  chance 
of  promotion  after  two  or  three  years'  service  as  a 
sergeant.  He  told  me  that  he  knew  his  jealous  disposi- 
tion had  been  a  sort  of  trouble  to  you;  but  I  am  sure 
that  he  will  never  worry  you  in  that  way  again.  I 
believe  that  he  is  now  thoroughly  master  of  himself, 
and  that  even  the  man  who  wrought  that  foul  wrong 
need  not  fear  him." 
6 


78  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  You  heard,  sir,  that  the  poor  girl  came  home  and 
died?" 

"  Yes,  he  told  me  when  he  heard  the  news  from 
you." 

"  She  never  said  who  did  it,  sir,  but  from  other 
things  that  came  out  there  is  no  doubt  who  it  was." 

"  He  told  me,  Lechmere,  but  I  stopped  him  short ; 
I  did  not  wish  to  know.  I  had  my  suspicions,  but  I  did 
not  want  to  have  them  confirmed.  The  fellow  I  sus- 
pect is  no  friend  of  mine,  and  I  don't  want  to  know 
anything  about  him.  If  I  were  certain  of  it,  I  could 
not  meet  him  without  telling  him  my  opinion  of  him." 

"  You  are  not  likely  to  meet  him  here,  Squire.  A 
year  ago  he  happened  to  be  over  at  Chippenham  one 
market  day.  There  were  a  dozen  of  us  there,  and  I 
can  tell  you  we  gave  him  such  a  reception  that  he 
mounted  his  horse  and  rode  straight  off  again.  If  he 
hadn't  I  believe  that  we  should  have  horsewhipped 
him  through  the  town.  Three  months  afterwards  his 
estate  was  put  up  for  sale,  and  he  has  never  been  down 
in  this  part  of  the  country  since;  not  that  he  was  ever 
here  much  before,  London  suited  him  better.  You  see, 
his  mother  was,  as  I  have  heard,  the  daughter  of  a 
banker,  and  an  only  child;  and  even  if  he  hadn't  had 
the  estate  he  would  have  been  a  rich  man.  Anyhow, 
I  am  heartily  glad  that  he  has  left  the  county." 

"  I,  too,  am  glad  that  he  has  gone,  Lechmere.  I 
have  not  met  him  for  years,  but  if  we  had  both  been 
down  here  we  must  have  run  against  each  other  some- 
times, and  after  some  matters  that  had  passed  be- 
tween us  years  ago  we  could  scarcely  have  met  on 
friendly  terms.  However,  as  there  is  nothing  beyond 
mere  suspicion  against  him,  he  may  in  this  case  be 
innocent.  You  see,  I  was  suspected  unjustly  myself, 
and  the  same  thing  may  be  the  case  with  him." 

"  That  is  so,  Squire ;  though  I  don't  think  that 
there  is  any  mistake  this  time.  In  fact,  I  believe  she 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  79 

told  her  mother,  though  she  kept  it  from  her  father 
for  fear  he  would  break  the  law.  At  any  rate,  it  is  a 
good  thing  he  has  gone;  for  he  was  a  hard  landlord, 
and  there  was  not  a  good  word  for  him  among  his 
tenants." 

"  That  makes  the  probability  of  a  mistake  all  the 
more  likely,"  Frank  said ;  "  if  I,  who  as  a  landlord, 
as  far  as  I  know,  have  given  no  grounds  for  dislike 
to  my  tenants,  was  suspected  unjustly,  this  would  be 
still  more  likely  to  be  the  case  with  one  who  was  gen- 
erally unpopular;  and  now,  how  has  the  farm  been 
going  on  since  I  was  away  ?  " 

"  Just  about  as  usual,  Squire.  Bob  is  not  such 
a  good  judge  of  horses  and  cattle  as  George  was,  but 
in  other  respects  I  think  he  knows  more.  George  did 
not  care  for  reading,  and  Bob  is  always  at  the  papers 
and  getting  up  the  last  things  these  scientific  chaps 
have  found  out;  so  matters  are  pretty  well  squared. 
Altogether,  I  have  no  call  to  grumble,  and  I  ain't 
likely,  Squire,  to  have  to  ask  for  time  on  rent  day.  We 
were  worried  sorely  about  George  as  long  as  that  mat- 
ter hung  over  him ;  but  since  that  was  cleared  up,  and 
we  heard  of  his  having  saved  your  life,  we  have  been 
happy  again.  We  got  a  big  shock  yesterday,  however, 
when  we  heard  what  had  happened  out  there." 

"  Well,  that  is  all  past  and  over  long  ago,  and  we 
have  none  of  us  any  cause  to  regret  it;  it  has  done 
George  a  great  deal  of  good,  and  as  for  me,  I  might 
not  be  here  now  talking  to  you  if  it  had  not  taken 
place,  for  it  was  the  memory  of  that  which  led  George 
to  the  desperate  action  which  saved  my  life.  Besides, 
you  see,  it  has  gained  for  me  an  attached  and  faith- 
ful friend,  for  it  is  as  a  friend  rather  than  as  a  servant 
that  I  regard  your  son." 

"  He  will  always  be  that,  I  am  sure,  Squire ;  he 
told  us  that  you  had  offered  to  set  him  up  on  a  farm, 
but  he  is  quite  right  to  say  no.  I  don't  say  that  if  it 


80  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

had  been  with  somebody  else,  his  mother  and  I  might 
not  have  felt  rather  sore  that  our  eldest  boy  should 
have  taken  to  service;  but,  of  course,  it  is  different 
with  you,  Squire.  It  is  only  natural  that  a  Lechmere 
should  serve  a  Mallett,  seeing  that  our  fathers  have 
been  your  fathers'  tenants  for  hundreds  of  years,  so 
that  even  if  all  this  had  not  happened  we  should  not 
have  minded;  as  it  is,  we  are  proud  that  he  is  with 
you;  and  it  seems  natural  that,  after  wandering  about 
the  world  and  fighting  with  those  black  villains  out 
there,  he  should  never  be  content  to  go  on  as  he  was 
before,  or  to  settle  down  to  farming." 

"  It  is  like  man  like  master,  in  this  case,"  Mallett 
laughed.  "  After  I  have  once  been  over  the  estate 
and  seen  all  the  tenants,  and  learned  that  everyone  is 
satisfied  and  everything  going  on  well,  I  shall  very 
soon  begin  to  feel  restless,  and  shall  be  running  off 
somewhere.  You  see,  I  have  never  been  broken  in  to 
a  country  life.  I  have  no  idea  of  becoming  an  ab- 
sentee; but  I  think  a  month  or  two  together  will  be 
as  much  as  I  can  stand,  at  any  rate  as  long  as  I  am 
a  bachelor." 

"  That  is  just  what  I  was  saying,  Squire,"  the 
farmer's  wife  said,  speaking  for  the  first  time — for 
during  the  first  portion  of  the  conversation  she  had 
been  crying  quietly,  and  had  since  been  busying  herself 
in  placing  decanters  and  glasses  and  a  huge  home- 
made cake  on  the  table.  "We  all  hope  that  you  will 
soon  bring  a  mistress  home.  I  said  only  this  morn- 
ing that  you  would  never  be  settling  down  until  you 
did.  And  now,  will  you  take  a  glass  of  wine  and  a 
slice  of  cake,  Squire  ?  " 

"  Thank  you,  Mrs.  Lechmere,  I  will ;  especially  a 
piece  of  your  cake.  Many  and  many  a  slice  of  it  have 
I  had  here  when  a  boy,  and  famously  good  it  always 
was." 

Major  Mallett  ate  two  big  slices  of  cake,  drank  a 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  81 

glass  of  wine,  and  refusing  the  offer  of  a  second  glass, 
got  up  to  go,  saying : 

"  No,  Mrs.  Lechmere ;  I  must  not  treat  myself  to 
another  glass  now;  I  am  going  round  to  four  or  five 
other  houses  before  I  return  to  lunch,  and  I  know  that 
the  tray  will  be  put  on  the  table  everywhere;  I  can 
say  that  I  have  eaten  so  much  cake  here  that  I  can- 
not eat  more.  But  I  know  I  shall  have  to  drink  a 
glass  of  wine  at  each  place,  and  I  can  assure  you  that 
I  am  not  accustomed  to  tipple  in  the  morning.  Ah, 
here  come  your  two  sons  across  the  fields.  I  will  meet 
them  at  the  gate;  if  I  were  to  begin  a  regular  talk 
with  Bob  to-day,  the  morning  would  be  gone." 

"  George  has  changed  wonderfully,"  Mrs.  Lechmere 
said,  as  they  accompanied  him  to  the  gate ;  "  it  ain't 
his  face  so  much,  though  he  is  well  nigh  as  brown  as 
that  cake,  but  it  is  his  figure.  I  should  not  have 
known  him  if  he  had  not  come  along  with  Bob;  he 
walks  altogether  different." 

"  It  is  the  drilling,  Mrs.  Lechmere.  Yes,  it  is  won- 
derful how  much  drill  does  for  a  man;  and  there  is  a 
good  deal  in  the  cut  of  the  clothes.  You  see,  there 
is  not  much  difference  in  the  material,  but  George'8 
were  made  at  a  good  tailor's  in  London,  and  I  sup- 
pose Bob's  were  made  down  here." 

Mallett  stayed  for  a  few  minutes  chatting  at  the 
gate  with  Bob,  and  then,  saying  that  he  would  cer- 
tainly come  in  again  before  he  went  up  to  town,  started 
on  a  round  of  calls. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

"  AND  so  you  have  bought  a  yacht,  Major  Mal- 
lett?" 

"Yes;  at  least  she  is  scarcely  a  yacht  yet.  I  was 
going  to  have  one  built,  but  I  heard  of  one  that  had 
been  ordered  by  Lord  Haverstock,  who,  they  say,  has 
been  so  hard  hit  at  the  Derby  that  he  had  to  tell  Wan- 
hill,  the  builder,  that  he  could  not  take  her.  As  the 
season  was  getting  rather  late,  the  man  was  glad  to 
sell  her  a  bargain,  especially  as  he  had  already  got  a 
thousand  pounds  towards  her;  so  I  got  her  for  twelve 
hundred  less  that  Haverstock  was  to  have  paid.  It 
suited  me  admirably,  for  he  has  engaged  to  finish  her 
in  six  weeks.  She  is  just  about  the  size  I  wanted,  120 
tons,  and  looks  as  if  she  would  turn  out  fast  and  a  good 
sea  boat.  Of  course,  I  shall  race  a  bit  with  her  next 
year,  though  I  have  bought  her  more  for  cruising.  I 
hope  that  you  and  Lady  Greendale  will  favour  me 
with  your  company  on  her  first  cruise  after  the  season 
ends.  I  know  it  is  of  no  use  asking  before  that." 

"I  should  like  it  immensely, '  Major  Mallett;  it 
would  be  delightful.  How  many  can  you  carry?" 

"Eight  comfortably;  the  ladies'  cabin  has  four 
berths,  but  will  be  only  really  comfortable  for  three, 
and  there  are  four  other  state  cabins — that  is,  three 
besides  my  own,  but  one  of  them  has  two  berths.  Of 
course,  I  could  put  up  three  or  four  others  in  the 
saloon  for  a  couple  of  days,  but  for  a  cruise  of  three 
weeks  or  a  month  it  would  be  too  many  for  comfort. 
We  could  not  seat  that  number  at  table  without  crowd- 
82 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  83 

ing,  and  I  doubt  whether  the  cooking  arrangements 
would  be  altogether  satisfactory.  Of  course,  we  shall 
want  two  more  ladies.  I  will  leave  the  selection  of 
those  to  you  and  Lady  Greendale,  for,  except  your- 
selves, I  know  no  ladies,  though,  of  course,  I  could  get 
plenty  of  men." 

"  That  will  be  delightful,"  Bertha  said;  "  but  I  dare 
say  that  by  the  time  the  season  is  over  you  will  know 
plenty  of  ladies  that  you  can  ask;  you  see,  you  have 
met  so  many  people  here  now  that,  as  you  have  just 
been  grumbling  discontentedly,  you  are  out  nearly 
every  night." 

"  Yes,"  he  laughed,  "  at  present,  you  see,  I  am  re- 
garded rather  as  an  Indian  lion;  but  I  shall  bid  good- 
bye to  London  as  soon  as  the  yacht  is  afloat." 

"  What  is  her  name  to  be  ?  " 

"  I  have  not  given  it  a  thought  yet ;  I  only  bought 
her  two  days  ago.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  almost  as 
hard  to  fix  on  a  name  for  a  yacht  as  for  a  race-horse." 

"  Oh !  there  are  so  many  pretty  names  that  would 
do  for  a  yacht." 

"Yes;  but  you  would  be  surprised  if  you  knew 
how  many  yachts  there  are  of  every  likely  name." 

"  It  ought  to  be  a  water  bird,"  the  girl  said. 

"  Those  are  just  the  names  that  are  most  taken." 

"Yes;  but  there  are  lots  of  sea  birds  and  water 
birds,  only  I  cannot  think  of  them." 

"  Well,  you  look  them  out,"  he  laughed ;  "  here  is 
a  Hunt's  Yachting  List  that  I  bought  on  my  way  here; 
I  will  leave  it  with  you,  and  any  name  that  you  fix  on 
she  shall  have.  Only,  please  choose  one  that  only  two 
or  three  boats,  and  those  not  about  the  same  size,  have 
got;  it  leads  to  confusion  if  there  are  two  craft  going 
about  of  the  same  name  and  of  about  the  same  size. 
But  I  warn  you  that  it  will  involve  your  having  to  go 
down  to  Poole  to  christen  her." 

"Do  they  christen  yachts,  Major  Mallett?" 


84  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"I  really  don't  know  anything  about  it,"  he  re- 
plied ;  "  but  if  it  is  right  and  proper  for  ships  it  must 
be  for  yachts;  and  I  should  regard  the  ceremony  as 
being  likely  to  bring  good  luck  to  her.  When  the  time 
comes,  I  will  fix  the  day  to  suit  your  arrangements." 

"  I  will  try  to  come  down,  Major  Mallett,  if  mamma 
will  agree;  but  it  is  a  long  way  to  Poole,  and  somehow 
one  never  seems  to  find  an  hour  to  do  anything;  so  I 
really  cannot  promise." 

"  Well,  if  you  cannot  manage  it,  Miss  Greendale, 
I  will  have  her  launched  without  being  named  and 
bring  her  round  to  Southampton,  and  then  you  could 
go  down  and  christen  her  there.  That  would  only  be 
a  short  railway  run  of  a  couple  of  hours  after  break- 
fast, and,  say,  two  hours  for  luncheon  there  and  to  have 
a  look  at  her,  and  you  could  be  home  by  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon." 

"  That  seems  more  practicable." 

Captain  Mallett  had  been  three  weeks  in  town.  He 
had  called  upon  Lady  Greendale  on  the  day  after  he 
had  come  up,  and  been  received  with  the  greatest  cor- 
diality by  her  and  Bertha.  The  latter,  in  the  two  years 
and  a  half  that  he  had  been  away,  had  grown  from  a 
somewhat  gawky  girl,  whose  charm  lay  solely  in  her 
expressive  eyes  and  pleasant  smile,  into  a  very  pretty 
woman.  She  was  slightly  over  middle  height,  and  car- 
ried herself  exceptionally  well;  her  face  was  a  bright 
and  sunny  one,  but  her  eyes  were  unchanged,  and  there 
was  an  earnestness  in  their  expression  which,  with  a 
certain  resolute  curve  in  the  lips,  gave  character  to  the 
laughing  brightness  of  her  face.  Society  had  received 
her  warmly,  and  consequently  she  was  pleased  with 
society.  Both  for  her  own  sake  and  as  an  heiress  she 
was  made  a  deal  of,  and,  though  she  had  been  but  two 
months  in  town,  she  had  already  taken  her  place  as 
one  of  the  recognised  belles  of  the  season. 

Lady  Greendale  had  a  dinner  party  on  the  day  when 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  85 

Major  Mallett  called,  and  was  discussing  with  Bertha 
whom  they  could  invite  to  fill  up  at  such  short  notice 
a  vacancy  which  had  occurred. 

"  You  coine  at  the  right  moment,  Frank,"  she  said, 
after  they  had  chatted  for  some  time.  "  We  were  la- 
menting just  now  that  we  had  received  this  morning 
a  note  from  a  gentleman  who  was  coming  to  dine  with 
us  to-day,  saying  that  he  could  not  come;  but  now  I 
regard  it  as  most  fortunate,  for  of  course  we  want  you 
to  come  to  us  at  once.  I  suppose  you  have  not  made 
any  engagements  yet.  We  shall  be  sixteen  with  you, 
and  I  think  they  are  all  nice  people." 

"  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  come,"  he  said ;  "  I  have 
certainly  no  engagements.  I  looked  in  at  the  club  last 
night.  It  was  my  first  appearance  there,  for  my  name 
only  came  up  for  election  four  months  ago,  and  I 
should  have  felt  very  uncomfortable  if  I  had  not  hap- 
pened to  meet  two  or  three  old  friends.  One  of  them 
asked  me  to  dinner  for  to-morrow.  For  to-day  I  am 
altogether  free." 

In  the  course  of  the  evening  Major  Mallett  received 
three  or  four  invitations  to  dances  and  balls,  and, 
being  thus  started  in  society,  was  soon  out  every  even- 
ing. For  the  first  week  he  enjoyed  the  novelty  of  the 
scene,  but  very  speedily  tired  of  it.  At  dinners  the 
ladies  he  took  down  always  wanted  him  to  talk  about 
India;  but  even  this  was,  in  his  opinion,  preferable 
to  the  crush  and  heat  of  the  dances. 

"  How  men  can  go  on  with  such  a  life  as  this," 
he  said  to  a  friend  at  the  club,  "  beats  me  altogether, 
Colonel ;  two  or  three  times  in  the  year  one  might  like 
to  go  out  to  these  crowded  balls,  just  to  see  the  dresses 
and  the  girls,  but  to  go  out  night  after  night  is  to  my 
mind  worse  than  hunting  the  rebels  through  the  jungle. 
It  is  just  as  hot  and  not  a  hundredth  part  so  exciting. 
I  have  only  had  three  weeks  of  it,  and  I  am  positively 
sick  of  it  already." 


gg  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  Then  why  on  earth  do  you  accept,  Mallett  ?  I 
took  good  care  not  to  get  into  it.  What  can  a  man 
want  better  than  this?  A  well-cooked  dinner,  eaten 
with  a  chum,  and  then  a  quiet  rubber,  and  perhaps 
once  a  fortnight  or  so  I  go  out  to  a  dinner  party, 
which  I  like  well  enough  as  a  change.  I  always  get 
plenty  of  shooting  in  winter,  and  am  generally  away 
for  three  months,  but  I  am  always  heartily  glad  to  get 
back  again." 

"  I  am  afraid  I  should  get  as  tired  of  the  club  as  I 
am  of  society,  Colonel." 

"  Ah !  you  have  plenty  of  time,  lad.  I  am  twenty 
years  your  senior.  Well,  there  is  plenty  before  you 
besides  society  and  club  life.  Of  course,  you  will 
marry  and  settle  down,  and  become  a  county  magis- 
trate and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  Thank  goodness,  what 
money  came  to  me  came  in  the  shape  of  consols,  and 
not  in  that  of  land.  A  country  life  would  be  exile  to 
me ;  but,  you  see,  you  have  left  the  army  much  younger 
than  I  did.  I  suppose  you  are  not  thirty  yet?  The 
Crimea  and  India  ran  you  fast  up  the  tree." 

"  No,  I  am  only  twenty-eight ;  you  know  I  was  only 
a  brevet  Major,  and  had  two  more  steps  to  get  before 
I  had  a  regimental  majority." 

"  That  makes  all  the  difference,  Mallett ;  and  it  is 
absurd,  a  young  fellow  of  your  age  crying  out  against 
society." 

"  I  don't  cry  out  against  it,"  Mallett  laughed ;  "  I 
simply  say  that  it  is  out  of  my  line,  and  I  have  never 
been  broken  into  it.  I  was  talking  of  buying  a  yacht, 
or  rather  of  building  one." 

"What  size  do  you  want?  I  know  of  one  to  be 
had  cheap,  if  you  are  thinking  of  a  good  big  craft." 

And  thus  it  was  that  Mallett  came  to  hear  of  the 
yawl  at  Poole. 

"I  have  fixed  on  the  Osprey,  Major  Mallett," 
Bertha  Greendale  said,  when  he  took  her  down  to 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  87 

dinner  two  days  after  he  had  last  seen  her.  "  What 
do  you  say  to  that?  There  are  two  or  three  yachts  of 
the  same  name,  but  none  of  them  is  over  thirty  tons." 
"  I  think  the  Osprey  is  a  pretty  name,  Miss  Green- 
dale.  I  should  have  accepted  the  Crocodile  if  you  had 
suggested  it.  The  name  that  you  have  chosen  will 
suit  admirably;  so  henceforth  she  shall  be  the  Osprey, 
pending  your  formally  christening  her  by  that  name. 
1  might,  of  course,  be  hypercritical  and  point  out  that, 
although  a  fishing  eagle,  the  Osprey  can  scarcely  be 
called  a  water  bird,  inasmuch  that  it  is  no  swimmer." 
"  But  it  is  hypercritical  even  to  suggest  such  a 
thing,"  she  said,  pouting ;  "  the  Osprey  has  to  do  with 
the  sea,  it  is  strong  and  swift  on  the  wing,  and  the  sails 
of  the  yacht  are  wings,  are  they  not  ?  Then  it  is  strong 
and  bold,  and  I  am  sure  your  boat  will  not  be  afraid 
to  meet  a  storm.  Altogether,  I  think  it  is  an  excellent 
name." 

"  I  think  it  a  very  good  name,  too." 
"  You  ought  to  have  one  for  your  figure  head." 
"  Yachts  don't  have  figure  heads,  else  I  would  cer- 
tainly have  it.     At  any  rate,  I  will  choose  an  eagle 
for  my  racing  flag." 

"  I  have  never  been  on  board  a  yacht  yet,"  the  girl 
said.  "  I  think  I  only  know  one  man  who  has  one, 
at  least  a  large  one;  that  is  Mr.  Carthew.  Of  course 
you  know  him;  he  had  a  new  one  this  spring — the 
Phantom.  He  has  won  several  times  this  season." 

"  I  saw  he  had,"  Frank  said,  quietly.    "  Yes,  I  used 
to  know  him,  but  it's  seven  or  eight  years  since  we  met." 
"  And  you  don't  like  him,"  she  said,  quickly. 
"What  makes  you  think  that,  Miss  Greendale?" 
"  Oh,  I  can  tell  by  the  tone  of  your  voice." 
"  I  don't  think  it  expressed  anything  but  indiffer- 
ence, as  it  is  such  a  long  time  since  I  met  him.    But 
I  never  fancied  him  much.    I  suppose  we  were  not  the 
same  sort  of  men;  and  then,  too,  perhaps  I  am  rather 


gg  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

prejudiced  from  the  fact  that  I  know  that  he  was  con- 
sidered rather  a  hard  landlord." 

"  I  never  heard  that,"  she  said. 

"  No,  I  dare  say  you  would  not  hear  it,  but  I  fancy 
it  was  so;  however,  he  sold  his  estate,  at  least  so  I 
heard." 

"  Yes,  he  told  me  that  he  did  not  care  for  country 
life.  I  have  seen  him  several  times  since  we  came 
up  to  town.  He  keeps  race-horses,  you  know.  His 
horse  was  second  in  the  Derby  this  spring.  That  takes 
him  a  good  deal  away,  else  one  would  meet  him  more 
often,  for  he  knows  a  great  many  people  we  do." 

"  Yes,  I  know  that  he  races,  and  is,  I  believe,  rather 
lucky  on  the  turf." 

"You  have  no  inclination  that  way,  Major  Mal- 
lett?" 

"  Not  a  shadow,"  he  said,  earnestly.  "  It  is  the 
very  last  vice  I  should  take  to.  I  have  seen  many  cases 
in  the  service  of  young  fellows  being  ruined  by  bet- 
ting on  the  turf.  We  had  one  case  in  my  own  regi- 
ment, in  which  a  man  was  saved  by  the  skin  of  his 
teeth.  Happily  he  had  strength  of  mind  and  manli- 
ness enough  to  cut  it  altogether,  and  is  a  very  promis- 
ing young  officer  now,  but  it  was  only  the  fact  of  our 
embarking  when  we  did  for  India  that  saved  him  from 
ruin.  The  man  who  bets  more  than  he  can  afford  to 
lose  is  simply  a  gambler,  whether  he  does  so  on  race- 
horses or  on  cards.  I  have  seen  enough  of  it  to  hate 
gambling  with  all  my  heart.  It  has  driven  more  men 
out  of  the  service  than  drink  has,  and  the  one  pas- 
sion is  almost  as  incurable  as  the  other." 

Bertha  laughed.  "  I  think  that  is  the  first  time  I 
have  ever  heard  you  express  any  very  strong  opinion, 
Major  Mallett.  It  is  quite  refreshing  to  listen  to  a 
thoroughgoing  denunciation  of  anything  here  in  Lon- 
don. In  the  country,  of  course,  it  is  different.  All 
sorts  of  things  are  heartily  abused  there,  especially, 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  89 

perhaps,  the  weather,  free  trade,  poaching,  and  peo- 
ple in  whose  covers  foxes  are  scarce.  But  here,  in 
London,  no  one  seems  to  care  much  about  anything." 

"  People  in  your  set  have  no  time  to  do  so." 

"  That  is  very  unkind.  They  think  about  amuse- 
ment." 

"  They  may  think  about  it,  but  it  is  all  in  a  very 
languid  fashion.  Now,  in  a  country  town,  when  there 
is  a  ball  or  a  dance  in  the  neighbourhood,  it  is  quite 
an  excitement;  and,  at  any  rate,  everyone  enters  into 
it  heartily.  People  evidently  enjoy  the  dancing  for 
dancing's  sake,  and  they  all  look  as  if  they  were  thor- 
oughly enjoying  themselves.  Whereas  here,  people 
dance  as  if  it  was  rather  a  painful  duty  than  other- 
wise, and  there  is  a  general  expression  of  a  longing 
for  the  whole  thing  to  be  over." 

"I  enjoy  the  dancing,"  Bertha  said,  sturdily;  "at 
least,  when  I  get  a  really  good  partner." 

"  Yes,  but  then  you  have  only  been  three  months 
at  it.  You  have  not  got  broken  into  the  business 
yet." 

"  Nor  have  you,  Major  Mallett." 

"  No,  but  while  you  are  an  actor  in  the  piece,  I  am 
but  a  spectator,  and  lookers-on,  you  know,  see  most  of 
the  game." 

"  What  nonsense !  Don't  pretend  you  are  getting 
to  be  a  blase  man.  I  know  that  you  are  only  about 
ten  years  older  than  I  am — not  more  than  nine,  I 
think — and  you  dance  very  well,  and  no  doubt  you 
know  it." 

"  I  like  dancing,  I  can  assure  you,  where  there  is 
room  to  dance;  but  I  don't  call  it  dancing  when  you 
have  an  area  of  only  a  foot  square  to  dance  in,  and 
are  hustled  and  bumped  more  than  you  would  be  in 
a  crowded  Lord  Mayor's  show.  My  training  has  not 
suited  me  for  it,  and  I  would  rather  stand  and  look 
on,  listen  to  scraps  of  conversation,  watch  the  faces  of 


90  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

the  dancers  and  of  those  standing  round.  It  is  a  study, 
and  I  tfeink  it  shows  one  of  the  worst  sides  of  nature. 
It  is  quite  shocking  to  see  and  hear  the  envy,  unchari- 
tableness,  the  boredom,  and  the  desperate  efforts  to  look 
cheerful  under  difficulties,  especially  among  the  girls 
that  do  not  get  partners." 

"For  shame!  I  am  disappointed  in  you,"  Bertha 
said,  half  in  jest,  half  in  earnest.  "  You  are  not  at 
all  the  person  I  thought  you  were.  Whatever  I  may 
have  fancied  about  you,  I  never  imagined  you  a  cynic 
or  a  grumbler." 

"  I  suppose  it  brings  out  the  worst  side  of  my  na- 
ture, too,"  he  laughed.  "  When  you  come  down  on 
board  the  Osprey,  Miss  Greendale,  you  will  see  the 
other  side.  I  fancy  one  falls  into  the  tone  of  one's 
surroundings ;  here  I  have  caught  the  tone  of  the  bored 
man  of  society,  there  you  will  see  that  I  shall  be  a 
breezy  sailor — cheerful  in  storm  or  in  calm,  ready  to 
take  my  glass  and  to  toast  my  lass  and  all  the  rest 
of  it  in  true  nautical  fashion." 

"  I  hope  so,"  she  said,  gravely ;  "  I  shall  certainly 
need  something  of  the  sort  to  correct  the  very  un- 
favourable impression  you  have  just  been  giving  me. 
Now  let  us  change  the  subject.  You  have  not  told  me 
yet  whether  you  had  any  flirtations  in  India." 

"  Flirtations !  "  he  repeated ;  "  for  once,  the  small 
section  of  womankind  that  I  encountered  were  above 
and  beyond  flirtations.  I  don't  think,"  he  went  on 
seriously,  "  that  you  in  England  can  quite  realise  what 
it  was,  or  that  a  woman  in  London  society  can  imagine 
that  there  can  exist  a  state  of  things  in  which  dress 
and  appearance  are  matters  which  have  altogether 
ceased  to  engross  the  female  mind.  The  white  women 
I  saw  there  were  worn  and  haggard.  ~No  matter  what 
their  age,  they  bore  on  their  faces  the  impress  of  ter- 
rible hardship,  terrible  danger,  and  terrible  grief  and 
anxiety.  Few  but  had  lost  someone  dear  to  them,  many 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  91 

all  whom  they  cared  for.  A  few  had  made  some  piti- 
ful attempt  at  neatness,  but  most  had  lost  all  thought 
of  self,  all  care  whatever  for  personal  appearance; 
there  was  an  anxious  look  in  their  eyes  that  was  pain- 
ful to  witness." 

"  I  spoke  without  thinking,"  the  girl  said,  gravely. 
"  It  must  have  been  awful — awful,  as  you  say.  It  is 
impossible  for  us  really  to  imagine  quite  what  it  was, 
or  to  picture  up  such  scenes  as  you  must  have  wit- 
nessed. I  can  understand  that  all  this  must  seem 
frivolous  and  contemptible  to  you." 

"No,  I  don't  go  so  far  as  that,"  he  smiled.  "It 
is  good  that  there  should  be  butterflies  as  well  as  bees; 
and,  at  any  rate,  the  wojnen  of  India,  who  had  the 
reputation  of  being  as  frivolous  and  pleasure-loving 
as  the  rest  of  their  sex,  came  out  nobly  and  showed 
a  degree  of  patience  under  suffering  and  of  heroic 
courage  unsurpassable  in  history.  I  am  afraid,"  he 
said,  as  the  hostess  gave  the  signal  for  the  ladies  to 
rise,  "  you  will  long  look  back  upon  this  dinner  as  one 
of  unprecedented  duhiess." 

"  Not  dulness,"  she  smiled ;  "  exceptional  certainly, 
but  as  something  so  different  from  the  usual  thing, 
when  one  talks  of  nothing  but  the  opera,  the  theatres 
and  exhibitions,  as  to  deserve  to  be  put  down  in  one's 
diary  by  a  mark.  I  won't  flatter  you  by  telling  you 
whether  a  red  or  a  black  one." 

"  Who  are  the  party  going  to  be,  Mallett  ? "  his 
friend  Colonel  Severn  said,  as  they  stood  together  on 
the  deck  of  the  Osprey  early  in  August.  "  You  guar- 
anteed that  it  would  be  a  pleasant  one  when  you  per- 
suaded me  to  leave  London,  for  the  first  time  since  I 
retired,  before  shooting  began." 

"  Well,  to  begin  with,  there  is  Lady  Greendale,  an 
eminently  pleasant  woman ;  she  comes  as  general  chap- 
eron, and  I  shall  consider  her  under  your  especial  care. 
You  will  not  find  it  hard  work,  for  she  is  an  eminently 


92  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

sympathetic  woman,  ready  to  chat  if  you  are  disposed 
to  talk,  to  interest  herself  in  other  ways  if  you  are  not. 
She  has  plenty  of  common  sense,  is  tolerant  of  tobacco, 
and  a  thorough  woman  of  the  world,  though  her  head- 
quarters have  for  years  been  in  the  country.  With  her 
is  her  daughter." 

"  Well,  what  about  her  ?  I  have  heard  of  her  as 
having  made  quite  a  sensation  this  season,  and  between 
ourselves  I  had  some  idea  that  this  party  was  specially 
planned  on  her  account." 

"  To  some  extent  perhaps  it  was,"  Frank  Mallett 
laughed.  "  Bertha  Greendale  is  an  old  chum  of  mine. 
I  knew  her  in  very  short  frocks,  for  they  were  near 
neighbours  of  ours  in  the  country,  and  her  father,  Sir 
John,  was  always  one  of  my  kindest  friends.  She  was 
a  slip  of  a  girl  when  I  went  out  to  India,  and  though 
I  thought  that  she  would  turn  out  pretty,  I  certainly 
did  not  expect  she  would  be  anything  like  as  good 
looking  as  she  is.  She  was  always  a  nice  girl,  and  suc- 
cess so  far  has  not  spoiled  her.  Then  there  is  a  Miss 
Sinclair,  a  great  friend  of  Bertha's,  and  Jack  Hawley 
of  the  Guards.  I  knew  him  out  in  the  Crimea.  The 
other  two  are  Wilson,  who  is  a  clever  young  barrister, 
and  a  particularly  pleasant  fellow,  and  his  wife,  who 
is  a  sister  of  Miss  Sinclair;  so  I  think  there  are  the 
elements  of  a  pleasant  party.  All  the  ladies  are  broken 
into  smoke,  for  Sir  John  smoked,  and  so  does  Wilson; 
so  that  you  won't  be  expected  to  go  forward  as  they  do 
on  the  P.  and  O.  whenever  you  want  to  enjoy  your 
favourite  pipe." 

"  That  is  a  comfort,  anyhow,  Mallett ;  if  there  is 
one  thing  in  the  world  I  hate  it  is  having  to  go  and 
hunt  about  for  some  place  to  smoke  in,  and  I  never 
accept  an  invitation  to  any  shooting  party  unless  I 
know  beforehand  that  smoking  is  allowed.  At  what 
time  do  you  expect  the  others  ? " 

"  They  will  be  down  at  half-past  twelve ;  they  are 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  93 

all  coming  by  the  same  train,  and  it  was  because  I 
knew  that  you  would  want  to  be  in  a  smoking  carriage 
that  I  told  you  to  come  down  by  the  earlier  one.  And, 
besides,  I  thought  it  well  to  get  you  here  first.  You 
are  the  only  stranger,  as  it  were;  the  others  are  all 
intimate  with  each  other,  and  it  was  as  well  to  post 
you  as  to  their  various  relationships." 

"  One  thing,  Mallett ;  I  hope  Lady  Greendale  is  not 
in  any  way  a  marrying  woman.  I  am  not  like  Mr. 
Pickwick,  afraid  of  widows,  and  have  perfect  confi- 
dence in  my  power  to  resist  temptation,  but  at  the 
same  time  it  makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world  to 
one's  comfort.  I  am  not  ass  enough  to  suppose  that 
Lady  Greendale  would  even  dream  for  a  moment  of 
setting  her  cap  at  a  Colonel  on  half-pay,  but  if  a 
woman  is  in  the  marrying  line  she  always  expects  a 
certain  amount  of  what  you  may  call  delicate  atten- 
tion. It  is  her  daily  bread,  for  she  considers  that  un- 
less every  man  she  comes  across  evinces  a  certain 
amount  of  admiration,  it  is  a  sign  that  her  charms  are 
on  the  wane,  and  her  chances  growing  more  and  more 
remote." 

Mallett  laughed.  "  You  can  set  your  mind  at  ease, 
for  nothing  is  further  from  the  thoughts  of  Lady 
Greendale  than  re-marriage;  she  was  very  happy  with 
her  husband." 

"  The  more  reason  for  her  marrying  again,"  the 
Colonel  said ;  "  a  woman  who  has  been  happy  with 
her  husband  is  apt  to  get  the  idea  into  her  head  that 
every  man  will  make  a  good  husband;  and  a  con- 
foundedly mistaken  idea  it  is.  She  is  much  more  likely 
to  marry  again  than  the  woman  who  has  had  a  "hard 
time  of  it." 

"  Well,  you  may  be  right  there,  Colonel,  but  put- 
ting aside  my  conviction  that  Lady  Greendale  has  no 
idea  of  marrying  again,  is  the  fact  that  at  present 
all  her  thoughts  are  occupied  by  her  daughter.  She 
7 


94  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

is  not  at  all  what  you  would  call  a  managing  mother, 
but  I  am  sure  that  she  has  set  her  heart  on  Bertha's 
making  a  good  match,  and  that  the  fear  that  she  will 
succumb  to  some  penniless  younger  son  or  other  un- 
suitable partner  is  at  present  the  dominant  feeling 
in  her  mind.  I  don't  think  she  would  have  agreed  to 
Jack  Hawley  being  of  the  party  had  not  Bertha  enter- 
tained a  conviction  that  he  was  rather  gone  on  Miss 
Sinclair,  who  by  the  way  has,  like  her  sister,  money 
enough  to  disregard  the  fact  that  Jack  is  hardly  in 
that  respect  well  endowed.  However,  it  is  time  for  me 
to  be  off;  I  see  the  skipper  is  getting  the  gig  lowered. 
I  suppose  you  will  be  content  to  sit  here  and  smoke 
your  pipe  until  we  come  back;  and,  indeed,  seven  is 
as  many  as  the  gig  will  carry  with  any  degree  of  com- 
fort. The  cutter  will  go  ashore  to  fetch  off  the  lug- 
gage, which  will  probably  be  of  somewhat  portentous 
dimensions." 

Two  minutes  later  Mallett  took  his  place  in  the 
gig  and  was  rowed  to  the  shore.  He  was  delighted  with 
his  new  purchase;  she  was  an  excellent  sea  boat,  and, 
as  he  had  learned  from  a  short  spin  with  another  craft, 
decidedly  fast.  He  had  not,  however,  entered  her  for 
any  race. 

"  There  is  no  hurry,"  he  said  to  his  skipper,  when 
the  latter  suggested  that  they  should  try  her  at  Cowes. 
"I  should  like  to  win  my  first  race,  and  in  the  first 
place  we  don't  know  that  she  is  in  her  best  trim.  In 
the  next  place  we  must  get  the  crew  accustomed  to  each 
other  and  to  the  craft ;  I  bought  her  as  a  cruiser  rather 
than  a  racer,  and  don't  want  to  have  her  full  of  men, 
as  are  most  of  the  racers;  it  is  a  heavy  expense,  and 
fewer  hands  accustomed  to  work  well  together  do  just 
as  much  work,  and  more  smartly  than  a  crowd.  We 
found,  when  we  sailed  round  the  islands  with  the  Royal 
Victoria  race,  that,  considering  we  went  under  reduced 
canvas,  we  held  our  own  very  fairly;  and  I  have  no 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  95 

doubt  that  when  we  get  all  our  light  canvas  up,  the 
Osprey  will  give  a  good  account  of  herself.  Our  gear 
is  scarcely  stretched  yet.  No;  I  will  wait  until  next 
season,  and  then  we  will  make  a  bold  bid  for  a  Queen's 
Cup." 

Frank  Mallett  reached  the  platform  at  Southamp- 
ton a  few  minutes  before  the  train  came  in.  The  party 
were  on  the  look-out  for  him,  and  alighted  in  the  high- 
est spirits. 

"  Now,  ladies,"  he  said,  "  the  first  thing  is  to  point 
out  the  luggage;  my  man  here  will  get  it  all  together, 
and  stand  guard  over  it  till  two  others  arrive  to  get 
it  on  board.  They  will  be  here  in  a  few  minutes;  in 
fact,  they  ought  to  be  here  now." 

He  looked  on  with  something  like  dismay  while 
the  boxes  were  picked  out  and  piled  together.  "  My 
dear  Lady  Greendale,"  he  said,  "  I  am  afraid  you  must 
all  have  very  vague  ideas  as  to  the  amount  of  accom- 
modation in  a  120  ton  yacht.  She  is  not  a  Cunarder 
or  a  P.  and  O.  Why,  two  or  three  of  those  trunks 
would  absolutely  fill  one  of  her  cabins." 

"  You  did  not  expect,  Major  Mallett,"  Bertha  said, 
demurely,  "  that  we  were  coming  for  a  month's  cruise 
with  only  handbags,  especially  after  telling  us  that 
very  likely  we  might  not  get  a  chance  of  getting  any 
washing  done  all  that  time." 

"  Well,  I  dare  say  we  shall  stow  them  away  some- 
where. Now,  as  you  have  got  them  all  together,  we  will 
go  down  to  the  boat.  Now,  lads,  you  had  better  get 
a  hand-cart,  and  get  these  things  on  board  as  soon  as 
yon  can." 

"  Which  is  the  Osprey  ? "  Amy  Sinclair  asked 
Bertha,  as  they  took  their  places  in  the  boat.  Bertha 
looked  with  a  rather  puzzled  face  at  the  fleet  of  yachts. 

"  That  is,"  she  said,  confidently,  after  a  moment's 
hesitation,  pointing  to  one  towards  which  the  boat  was 
at  the  moment  heading. 


96  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

Frank  Mallett  laughed.  "Keally  I  should  have 
thought,  Miss  Greendale,  that,  although  making  every 
allowance  for  feminine  vagueness  as  to  boats,  you 
would  have  known  the  yacht  you  christened  a  month 
ago,  or,  at  any  rate,  would  not  have  mistaken  a  schoon- 
er for  a  yawl,  after  the  patient  explanation  I  gave  you 
on  your  last  visit  as  to  the  different  rigs.  That  is  the 
Osprey,  a  hundred  yards  lower  down." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  remember  now,  that  when  there  is  a 
little  mast  standing  on  the  stern  it  is  a  yawl.  These 
things  seem  very  simple  to  you,  Major  Mallett,  but 
they  are  very  puzzling  to  women,  who  know  nothing 
about  them.  Now,  I  venture  to  say,  that  if  I  were 
to  show  you  six  different  materials  for  frocks,  and 
were  to  tell  you  all  their  names,  you  would  know  noth- 
ing about  them  when  I  showed  them  to  you  a  month 
afterwards.  I  suppose  the  gentleman  on  board  is 
Colonel  Severn." 

"  Yes,  he  came  down  by  the  train  before  yours.  I 
thought  it  better  that  he  should  do  so,  as  in  the  first 
place,  he  did  not  know  any  of  you,  and  in  the  next, 
as  you  see,  we  are  pretty  closely  packed  as  it  is." 

"  What  is  that  flag  at  the  mast-head  ?  "  Lady  Green- 
dale  asked.  "  Bertha  said  that  your  flag  was  going  to 
have  an  eagle  on  it." 

"  That  is  on  my  racing  flag.  Let  me  impress  upon 
you,  ladies,  that  a  racing  flag  is  a  square  flag,  and 
that  that  is  not  a  flag  at  all,  but  a  burgee.  Every  club 
has  its  burgee;  as  you  see,  that  is  a  white  cross  on  a. 
blue  ground  with  a  crown  in  the  centre,  and  is  the 
burgee  of  the  Royal  Thames,  of  which  I  was  elected 
a  member  last  month.  Here  we  are.  Properly,  I  ought 
to  be  on  board  first,  but  I  am  too  wedged  in.  You 
and  Wilson  had  better  go  up  first;  that  will  give  more 
room  for  the  ladies  to  move." 

"  You  have  got  new  steps,"  Bertha  said.  "  When 
I  came  down  with  Mrs.  Wilson  to  christen  the  boat 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  97 

we  had  to  climb  up  nasty  steep  steps  against  the  side. 
This  is  a  great  deal  more  comfortable.  I  was  think- 
ing that  mamma  would  have  a  difficulty  in  getting 
up  those  other  things,  if  it  were  at  all  rough." 

"  Yes,  I  have  had  them  specially  made  for  the  pres- 
ent occasion.  Large  cruisers  always  have  them,  and, 
at  any  rate,  they  are  more  comfortable  for  any  sized 
boats.  But  they  take  up  rather  more  room  to  stow 
away,  and  they  are  really  not  so  handy  in  a  sea,  for 
the  boats  cannot  get  so  close  alongside.  Still,  no  doubt 
they  are  more  comfortable  for  ladies.  Now  it  is  your 
turn." 

The  cruise  of  the  Osprey  was  in  all  respects  a  suc- 
cess. The  party  was  well  chosen  and  pleasant.  Colonel 
Severn  and  Lady  Greendale  got  on  well  together.  He 
liked  her  because  she  had  no  objection  whatever  to  his 
perpetual  enjoyment  of  his  pipe.  She  liked  him  be- 
cause he  was  altogether  different  from  anyone  that 
she  had  met  before;  his  Indian  stories  amused  her,  his 
views  of  life  were  original,  and  his  grumbling  at  mod- 
ern ways  and  modern  innovations  in  no  way  concealed 
the  fact  that  in  spite  of  it  all  he  evidently  enjoyed  life 
thoroughly. 

The  Osprey  had  fine  weather  as  she  ran  along  the 
south  coast,  anchoring  under  Portland  for  a  day,  while 
the  party  examined  the  works  of  the  breakwater  and 
paid  a  visit  to  the  quarries,  where  the  convicts  were  at 
work.  She  put  into  Torquay,  Dartmouth  and  Plym- 
outh, spending  a  day  in  the  two  former  ports  and  two 
at  the  last  named.  They  looked  into  Fowey,  and 
stopped  two  days  at  Falmouth,  and  then,  rounding 
the  Land's  End,  made  for  Kingstown.  From  here  they 
started  for  the  Clyde;  but  meeting  with  very  heavy 
weather,  went  into  Belfast  Lough. 

The  Osprey  proved  to  be  a  fine  sea  boat,  and  be- 
haved so  well  that  even  Lady  Greendale  declared  she 
would  not  be  afraid  to  trust  herself  on  board  her  in 


98  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

any  weather.  They  sailed  up  the  Clyde  as  far  as 
Greenock,  and  then  returning,  cruised  for  a  fortnight 
among  the  islands  on  the  west  coast.  They  had  en- 
joyed their  stay  at  Kingstown  so  much  that  they  put 
in  there  again  on  their  return  voyage,  shaped  their 
course  for  Plymouth,  and  then,  without  looking  into 
any  other  port,  returned  to  Southampton. 

Jack  Hawley  and  Miss  Sinclair  had  become  en- 
gaged during  the  voyage,  and  the  Colonel  and  Lady 
Greendale  had  become  so  confidential  that  Frank 
laughingly  asked  him  if  he  had  changed  his  views  on 
the  subject  of  matrimony,  a  suggestion  which  he  in- 
dignantly repudiated. 

"  I  should  have  thought  that  you  knew  me  better," 
he  said,  reproachfully.  "  I  admit  that  Lady  Greendale 
is  a  very  charming  woman,  but  you  don't  think  that 
she  can  imagine  for  a  moment  that  I  have  ever  enter- 
tained any  idea  of  such  a  thing?  You  said  that  I  was 
to  amuse  her  if  I  could;  I  have  tried  my  best  to  keep 
the  old  lady  as  much  to  myself  as  possible,  so  as  to 
enable  all  you  young  people  to  carry  out  your  flirta- 
tions to  your  heart's  content.  By  gad,  sir,  it  would  be 
a  nice  return  for  following  out  your  instructions  to 
find  myself  in  such  a  hole  as  that." 

Frank  had  some  difficulty  in  persuading  the  Colo- 
nel that  his  remark  was  not  meant  as  a  serious  one, 
and  that  there  was  no  fear  whatever  that  Lady  Green- 
dale  had  ever  had  the  slightest  reason  to  suppose  that 
his  intentions  were  not  of  a  most  Platonic  nature. 

"  I  am  heartily  glad,"  the  Colonel  said,  when  he 
was  quite  pacified,  "  that  Hawley's  affair  has  come 
off  all  right.  Even  if  she  had  not  been  an  heiress  I 
should  have  said  that  he  was  a  lucky  fellow,  for  she 
is  an  extremely  nice  and  pleasant  young  woman,  with- 
out any  nonsense  about  her;  still  there  is  no  doubt 
that  her  fortune  will  come  in  very  handy  for  Hawley. 
As  to  the  girl  herself,  I  think  she  has  made  a  very  good 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  99 

choice.  She  has  plenty  of  money  for  both,  and  as  he 
has  managed  to  keep  up  on  his  younger  son's  portion, 
he  can  have  no  extravagant  tastes,  and  will  make  her 
a  very  good  husband.  There  is  no  other  engagement 
to  be  announced,  I  suppose  ? " 

"  As  I  am  the  only  other  unmarried  man  on  board, 
Colonel,  your  question  is  somewhat  pointed.  No;  I 
hope  there  may  be  one  of  these  days,  but  I  don't  think 
that  it  would  be  fair  to  ask  her  here,  where  I  am  her 
host,  and  she  is  under  the  glamour  of  the  sea.  I  doubt 
whether  she  has  the  slightest  idea  of  what  I  want. 
That  is  the  worst  of  being  very  old  friends;  the  rela- 
tions get  so  fixed  that  a  woman  does  not  recognise 
that  they  can  ever  be  changed.  However,  I  shall  try 
my  luck  one  of  these  days.  I  don't  think  that  I  shall 
meet  with  any  serious  opposition  on  her  mother's  part 
if  Bertha  likes  me,  but  I  know  that  Lady  Greendale 
has  very  much  more  ambitious  views  for  her,  and  has 
quite  set  her  mind  upon  her  making  a  good  match. 
Xo  doubt  she  has  a  right  to  expect  that  she  will  do  so. 
However,  I  think  she  is  too  fond  of  Bertha  to  thwart 
her,  however  disappointed  she  might  feel.  At  present 
I  don't  think  that  she  has  any  more  suspicion  than 
Bertha  herself  of  my  intentions." 

During  the  voyage  Bertha  and  Amy  Sinclair  had 
become  quite  adroit  helmswomen,  and  one  or  other 
was  constantly  at  the  tiller  when  the  wind  was  light. 
Bertha  had  learned  the  names  of  all  the  crew,  and 
often  went  forward  to  ask  questions  of  the  men  tend- 
ing the  head  sails,  becoming  a  prime  favourite  with 
all  hands.  On  arriving  at  Southampton  the  rest  of  the 
party  went  up  at  once  to  town,  while  Frank  remained 
behind  for  a  day  or  two,  going  round  in  the  yacht  to 
Gosport,  where  she  was  to  be  laid  up  for  the  winter. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"  I  AM  so  sorry,"  Bertha  Greendale  said,  "  so  awfully 
sorry.  I  had  no  idea  that  you  thought  of  me  like  that. 
We  were  such  friends  so  long  ago,  and  it  has  been  so 
pleasant  since  you  came  home  last  year,  and  I  like 
you  as  if  you  were  a  big  brother,  but  I  have  never 
thought  of  you  in  any  other  light,  and  now  it  seems 
dreadful  to  me  to  give  you  pain;  but  I  feel  sure  that 
I  should  never  come  to  love  you  in  that  way."  And 
she  burst  into  tears. 

"  Do  not  think  anything  more  about  it,  dear," 
Frank  Mallett  said,  gently.  "  I  have  felt  sometimes 
when  we  have  been  together,  that  you  were  so  kindly 
and  frank  and  pleasant  with  me  that  you  could  feel 
as  I  wanted  you  to.  I  ought  to  have  known  it  always. 
But  I  suppose  in  such  cases  a  man  deceives  himself 
and  shuts  his  eyes  to  facts.  You  have  certainly  noth- 
ing to  blame  yourself  about.  Of  course,  it  is  a  hard 
blow,  but  no  doubt  I  shall  get  over  it  as  other  fellows 
do.  At  any  rate,  I  know  that  we  shall  always  be  dear 
friends,  and  you  need  not  fear  that  I  shall  mope  over 
my  misfortune.  I  shall  run  up  to  town  for  a  bit,  and 
as  you  are  going  up  for  the  season  next  week,  I  shall 
no  doubt  often  meet  you.  Don't  fret  about  me ;  I  have 
been  hit  pretty  hard  several  times,  though  not  in  the 
same  way,  and  I  have  always  gone  through  it,  and  no 
doubt  I  shall  do  so  now.  Good-bye,"  and  when  Bertha 
looked  up,  he  had  left  the  room. 

"  Oh,  mamma,"  she  said,  when  she  went  into  the 
room  where  her  mother  was  sitting,  "  I  am  so  sorry, 
100 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  101 

BO  dreadfully  sorry;  Frank  Mallett  has  asked  me  to 
be  his  wife.  I  have  never  thought  of  such  a  thing  and 
of  course  I  had  to  say  no." 

"  I  have  thought  such  a  thing  likely  for  some  time, 
Bertha,  but  I  thought  it  best  to  hold  my  tongue  about 
it.  In  such  matters  the  interference  of  a  mother  often 
does  more  harm  than  good.  I  felt  sure,  by  your  man- 
ner with  him,  that  you  had  no  idea  of  it,  and  I  must 
say  that  much  as  I  like  Frank  Mallett,  I  should  have 
been  sorry.  I  have  great  hopes  of  your  making  a  really 
first-class  match." 

"I  could  not  make  a  better  match,"  Bertha  said, 
indignantly ;  "  no  one  could  be  kinder  or  nicer  than 
Major  Mallett,  and  we  know  how  brave  he  is  and  how 
he  has  distinguished  himself,  and  he  has  a  good  estate 
and  everything  that  anyone  could  wish,  only  unfor- 
tunately I  do  not  love  him — at  least  not  in  that  way. 
He  has  never  shown  me  what  I  should  consider  any 
particular  attention,  and  never  talked  to  me  in  the 
way  men  do  when  they  are  making  love  to  a  girl.  Noth- 
ing could  be  nicer,  and  it  was  all  the  nicer  because  I 
never  thought  of  this.  I  suppose  it  is  because  he  is  so 
different  from  some  of  the  men  I  met  in  town  last 
season,  who  always  seemed  to  be  trying  to  get  round 
me.  No,  I  know  it  is  not  a  nice  expression,  mamma, 
but  you  know  what  I  mean." 

"  I  know,  my  dear,"  her  mother  smiled ;  "  of  course 
you  are  a  very  good  match,  and  though  I  do  not  want 
to  flatter  you,  you  were  one  of  the  belles  of  the  season. 
Though  some  of  the  men  you  speak  of  were  by  no 
means  desirable — younger  sons  and  barristers  and  that 
sort  of  thing — still,  there  were  two  or  three  whom  any 
girl  might  have  been  pleased  to  see  at  her  feet,  and 
who,  I  am  sure  from  what  I  saw,  only  needed  but  little 
encouragement  from  you  to  be  there.  I  was  a  little 
vexed,  dear,  you  see,  that  you  did  not  give  any  of  them 
that  encouragement,  but  I  understand,  of  course,  that 


102  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

the  novelty  of  your  first  season  carried  you  away  alto- 
gether, and  that  you  liked  the  dancing  and  the  fetes 
and  the  opera  for  themselves,  and  not  because  they 
brought  you  in  contact  with  men  of  excellent  class. 
So  far  as  I  could  see,  it  was  a  matter  of  indifference 
to  you  whether  the  man  was  a  peer  with  a  splendid 
rent  roll,  or  a  younger  son  without  a  farthing,  so 
that  he  was  a  good  dancer  and  a  pleasant  compan- 
ion; but  of  course  after  a  season  or  two  you  will  grow 
wiser." 

"  I  do  hope  not,  mamma,"  Bertha  said,  indignantly. 
"  I  don't  mean  to  say  that  it  might  not  be  better  to 
marry,  as  yoxi  say,  a  peer  with  a  good  rent  roll  than  a 
younger  son  without  a  penny,  other  things  being  equal, 
that  is  to  say,  if  one  liked  them  equally;  but  I  hope 
that  I  shall  never  come  to  like  anyone  a  bit  more  for 
being  a  peer." 

Lady  Greendale  smiled,  indulgently. 

"  It  is  a  natural  sentiment,  my  dear,  for  a  girl  of 
your  age  and  inexperience;  but  in  time  you  will  come 
to  see  things  in  a  different  light." 

Then  she  changed  the  subject.  "  What  is  Frank 
going  to  do?  It  is  fortunate  that  we  are  going  up  to 
town  next  week." 

"  He  is  going  up  to  town  himself  to-morrow,  and 
I  am  sure  that  you  will  never  hear  from  him,  or  from 
anyone  else,  what  has  happened.  We  shall  meet  in 
town  as  usual,  and  I  am  sure  that  he  will  be  just  the 
same  as  he  was  before,  and  that  I  shall  be  a  great  deal 
more  uncomfortable  than  he  will.  It  is  a  very  silly 
affair  altogether,  I  think;  and  I  would  give  anything 
if  it  had  not  happened." 

Lady  Greendale  did  not  echo  the  sentiment.  She 
liked  Frank  Mallett  immensely;  he  had  always  been 
a  great  favourite  of  hers,  but  since  she  had  guessed 
what  Bertha  herself  had  not  dreamed  of,  she  had  been 
uncomfortable.  It  threatened  to  disturb  all  the  plans 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  103 

she  had  formed,  and  she  was  well  contented  to  learn 
that  she  had  refused  him.  Lady  Greendale  was  a  thor- 
oughly kind-hearted  woman,  but  she  could  not  forget 
that  she  herself  might  have  made,  in  a  worldly  sense, 
a  better  match  than  she  had;  and  her  ambition  had, 
since  Bertha  was  a  child,  and  still  more  since  she  had 
shown  promise  of  exceptional  good  looks,  been  centred 
on  her  making  a  really  good  match. 

Frank  went  up  to  town  next  day,  and  the  Green- 
dales  followed  him  a  week  later.  They  did  not  often 
meet  him  in  society,  as  Frank  seldom  went  out;  but 
he  called  occasionally  in  the  old  friendly  and  uncere- 
monious way.  It  would  have  required  an  acute  ob- 
server to  see  any  difference  in  his  manner  to  Bertha, 
but  Lady  Greendale  noticed  it,  and  the  girl  herself 
felt  that,  although  he  was  no  less  kind  and  friendly, 
there  was  some  impalpable  change  in  his  manner,  some- 
thing that  she  felt,  though  she  could  not  define  it,  even 
to  herself. 

"  Have  you  had  a  tiff  with  Major  Mallett,  Bertha?  " 
Mrs.  Wilson  asked  one  day,  when  she  was  alone  with 
her  in  the  drawing-room.  Frank  had  just  left,  after 
spending  an  hour  there. 

"  A  tiff,  Carrie  ?  No !  What  put  such  an  idea  into 
your  head  ?  " 

"  My  eyes,  assisted  perhaps  by  my  ears.  My  dear, 
do  you  think  that  after  being  with  you  on  the  yacht 
last  autumn,  I  should  not  notice  any  change  in  your 
manner  to  each  other?  I  had  expected  before  now  to 
have  heard  an  interesting  piece  of  news;  and  now 
I  see  that  things  have  gone  wrong  somehow." 

"  We  are  just  as  good  friends  as  we  always  were," 
Bertha  said,  shortly,  "  every  bit." 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say  that  you  have  refused  him, 
Bertha?" 

"  I  don't  mean  to  say  anything  of  the  sort.  I  sim- 
ply say  that  Major  Mallett  and  I  have  always  been 


104  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

great  friends,  and  we  are  so  now.  There  is  no  one 
that  I  have  a  higher  regard  for." 

"Well,  Bertha,  I  do  not  want  to  know  your  se- 
crets, if  you  do  not  wish  to  tell  me.  All  that  I  can 
say  is  that,  if  you  have  refused  him,  you  have  done 
a  very  foolish  thing.  I  don't  know  any  man  that  a 
woman  might  be  happier  with.  When  we  were  out 
last  year  with  you,  Amy  and  I  agreed  that  it  was 
certain  to  come  off,  and  thought  how  well  suited  you 
were  to  each  other.  Of  course,  in  worldly  respects, 
you  might  do  better;  just  at  present  you  have  the  ball 
at  your  feet;  but  choose  where  you  may  you  will  not 
find  a  finer  fellow  than  he  is.  Yes,  I  told  Harry  that 
it  was  lucky  that  I  had  not  made  that  trip  on  board  the 
Osprey  before  I  was  irrevocably  captured,  for  I  should 
certainly  have  lost  my  heart  to  Major  Mallett.  Well, 
I  am  sorry,  Bertha,  more  sorry  than  I  can  say;  and 
I  am  sure  that  Amy  will  be,  too." 

"  I  said  nothing  whatever,  Carrie,  that  would  justi- 
fy this  little  explosion,  which  I  certainly  don't  intend 
to  answer.  I  should  really  feel  very  vexed,  if  I 
were  not  perfectly  sure  that  you  would  never  tell  any- 
one else  of  this  notion  that  you  have  got  in  your 
head." 

"You  may  be  quite  sure  of  that,  Bertha;  at  least 
when  I  say  no  one  else,  of  course  I  do  not  include 
Harry;  but  you  know  him  well  enough  to  be  certain 
that  it  will  not  go  further.  I  am  sure  he  will  be  as 
disappointed  as  I  am;  in  fact,  he  will  have  a  small 
triumph  over  me,  for  after  the  usual  manner  of  men 
he  saw  nothing  on  board  the  yacht,  and  has  always 
maintained  that  it  was  pure  fancy  on  my  part.  How- 
ever, I  won't  tell  anyone  else,  not  even  Amy;  she  can 
find  it  out  for  herself,  which  you  may  be  sure  she  will 
do  when  she  comes  back  from  the  continent,  if  indeed 
her  own  happiness  with  Jack  has  not  blinded  her  to  all 
sublunary  matters.  Well,  good-bye,  dear ;  you  will  for- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  105 

give  my  saying  that  I  am  disappointed  in  you,  terribly 
disappointed  in  you." 

"  I  must  try  to  put  up  with  that,  Carrie ;  I  am 
not  aware  that  you  consulted  me  before  you  made  your 
own  matrimonial  arrangements,  and  perhaps  I  may 
be  able  to  manage  my  own." 

"  Well,  don't  be  cross,  Bertha ;  remember  that  I 
am  not  advising  or  counselling.  I  am  simply  regret- 
ting, which  perhaps  you  may  do  yourself  some  day  or 
other."  And  with  this  parting  shot  she  left. 

The  weeks  went  on,  and  when  May  came  and  Frank 
told  her  that  the  Osprey  was  fitted  out,  and  that  he 
would  join  her  in  a  day  or  two,  Bertha  heard  the  news 
with  satisfaction.  The  season  was  a  gay  one,  and  she 
was  enjoying  herself  greatly,  the  one  little  drop  of 
bitterness  in  her  cup  being  that  she  could  no  longer 
enjoy  his  visits  as  she  formerly  did.  He  had  been  the 
one  man  with  whom  she  was  able  to  talk  and  laugh 
quite  freely,  who  was  really  an  old  friend,  a  link  not 
only  between  her  and  the  past,  but  between  her  and 
her  country  life. 

And  now,  she  thought  pettishly,  he  had  spoiled  all 
this,  and  what  annoyed  her  almost  as  much  was  that 
the  change  was  more  in  herself  than  in  him.  She  no 
longer  gave  him  commissions  to  execute  for  her,  nor 
made  him  her  general  confidant.  She  knew  that  he 
would  be  as  ready  as  before  to  laugh  and  to  sympa- 
thise, that  he  would  still  gladly  execute  her  commis- 
sions, and  she  felt  that  he  tried  hard  to  make  her  for- 
get that  he  had  aspired  to  be  something  nearer  to  her 
than  a  brotherly  friend.  She  felt  that  after  what  he 
had  said  they  could  never  stand  in  quite  the  same  rela- 
tion as  before.  Accustomed  as  Frank  was  to  read  her 
thoughts,  he  was  not  deceived  by  the  expression  of  re- 
gret that  she  should  now  see  but  little  of  him,  as  he 
saw  the  news  was  really  pleasant  to  her.  She  was  not 
aware  that  it  was  a  conversation  that  he  had  had  the 


106  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

evening  before  with  Colonel  Severn  which  had  decided 
him  to  go  down  to  the  Osprey  a  fortnight  earlier  than 
he  had  intended. 

"  You  are  getting  to  be  almost  as  regular  an  at- 
tendant here,  Mallett,  as  I  am;  I  think  you  are  alto- 
gether too  young  to  take  regularly  to  club  life.  It 
is  all  very  well  for  an  old  fogey  like  me,  but  I  don't 
think  it  a  good  thing  for  a  young  fellow  like  you  to 
take  so  early  to  a  bachelor  life." 

"  I  don't  want  to  do  anything  of  the  sort,  Colonel. 
But  I  can't  stand  these  crushes  in  hot  rooms;  I  can- 
not for  the  life  of  me  see  where  the  pleasure  comes 
in.  I  begin  to  think  that  I  was  an  ass  to  leave  the 
army." 

*'  Not  at  all,  lad,  not  at  all ;  when  a  man  has  got  a 
good  estate  it  is  much  better  for  him  to  settle  down 
upon  it,  and  to  marry  and  have  children,  and  all  that 
sort  of  thing,  than  it  is  to  remain  in  the  army  in  times 
of  peace.  I  had  Wilson  and  Hawley  dining  with  me 
here  yesterday;  we  had  a  great  chat  over  the  pleasant 
time  we  had  last  year  on  board  your  yacht.  I  don't 
know  when  I  enjoyed  myself  so  much  as  I  did  then. 
Lady  Greendale  is  a  remarkably  clever  woman,  and  her 
daughter  is  as  nice  a  girl  as  I  have  come  across  for 
a  long  time,  and  without  a  scrap  of  nonsense  about 
her.  I  wonder  that  she  has  not  become  engaged  by 
this  time.  General  Matthews,  who,  as  you  know,  goes 
in  a  good  deal  for  that  sort  of  thing  for  the  sake  of 
his  daughters,  told  me  recently  that  he  fancied  from 
what  he  had  heard  that  Miss  Greendale's  engagement 
was  likely  to  be  a  settled  thing  before  the  season  was 
over.  He  said  there  were  three  men  making  the  run- 
ning— Lord  Chilson,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of  Som- 
merlay;  George  Delamore — his  father  is  in  the  Cabi- 
net, you  know,  and  he  is  member  for  Ponberry;  and  a 
man  named  Carthew,  who  keeps  race-horses,  and  was 
a  neighbour  of  hers  down  in  the  country.  He  is,  I 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  107 

hear,  a  good-looking  fellow,  and  just  the  sort  of  man 
a  girl  is  likely  to  fancy.  Matthews  thought  that  the 
chances  were  in  his  favour.  As  you  are  a  neighbour 
of  theirs,  too,  I  suppose  you  will  know  him  ? " 

"  I  knew  him  at  one  time,  Colonel,  but  I  have  not 
seen  him  now  for  a  good  many  years,  beyond  meeting 
him  two  or  three  times  at  dinners  and  so  on  last  sea- 
son. He  was  away  when  I  was  at  home  before  going 
out  to  India,  and  he  had  sold  his  estate  before  I  came 
back." 

"  They  say  he  has  been  very  lucky  on  the  turf,  and 
has  made  a  pot  of  money." 

"  So  I  have  heard,"  Frank  said ;  "  but,  you  see,  one 
generally  hears  of  men's  good  luck,  and  not  of  their 
bad;  besides,  many  men  do  most  of  their  real  betting 
through  commissioners,  especially  if  they  own  horses 
themselves.  He  is  a  fellow  I  don't  much  care  for,  and 
I  hope  that  whomever  Miss  Greendale  may  marry,  he 
will  not  be  the  man." 

"  I  thought  when  you  first  asked  me  down  last  year 
that  you  had  got  up  the  party  specially  for  her,  Mal- 
lett,  and  that  you  were  going  in  for  the  prize  your- 
self. But  of  course  I  soon  saw  that  I  was  mistaken, 
as  you  were  altogether  too  good  chums  for  that  to  come 
about.  I  have  often  noticed  that  men  and  girls  who 
are  thrown  a  lot  together  are  often  capital  friends, 
but,  although  just  the  pair  you  would  think  would 
come  together,  that  they  hardly  ever  do  so.  I  have 
noticed  it  over  and  over  again.  Well,  she  is  an  un- 
commonly nice  girl,  whoever  gets  her." 

Frank  did  not  return  to  town  until  the  end  of  June. 

"  I  have  to  congratulate  you  upon  the  Osprey's  vic- 
tory," Bertha  said,  the  first  time  he  called  to  see  them. 
"  You  may  imagine  with  what  interest  I  read  the  ac- 
counts of  the  yacht  races.  I  saw  you  won  two  on  the 
Thames,  and  were  first  once  and  second  once  at  South- 
ampton." 


108  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  Yes,  the  Osprey  has  shown  herself  to  be,  as  I 
thought,  an  uncommonly  fast  boat.  We  should  have 
had  two  firsts  at  Southampton  if  the  pilot  had  not 
cut  matters  too  fine  and  run  us  aground  just  opposite 
Netley;  we  were  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  we  were 
off  again.  We  picked  up  a  lot  of  our  lost  ground  and 
got  a  second,  but  were  beaten  eight  minutes  by  the 
winner." 

"  Have  you  entered  for  the  Queen's  Cup  at  Hyde  ?  " 

"  I  have  not  entered  yet,  but  I  am  going  to  do  so," 
he  said. 

"  Mamma  and  I  will  be  down  there.  Lord  Haver- 
ley — he  is  first  cousin  to  mamma,  you  know — has  tak- 
en a  house  there  for  the  month,  and  he  is  going  to 
have  a  large  party,  and  we  are  going  down  for  Hyde 
week." 

"  Yes,  and  there  will  be  the  Victoria  Yacht  Club 
ball  and  all  sorts  of  gaieties.  I  have  not  entered  yet, 
but  I  am  going  to  do  so.  The  entries  do  not  close  till 
next  Saturday." 

"  You  will  call  and  see  us,  of  course,  Frank  ? " 
Lady  Greendale  said.  "  Haverley  has  a  big  schooner 
yacht,  and  I  dare  say  we  shall  be  a  good  deal  on  the 
water." 

"  I  shall  certainly  do  myself  the  pleasure  of  calling, 
Lady  Greendale." 

"I  warn  you,  Frank,  that  Bertha  and  I  will  be 
very  disappointed  if  the  Osprey  does  not  win  the  cup. 
We  regard  ourselves  as  being,  to  some  extent,  her  pro- 
prietors, and  it  will  be  a  grievous  blow  to  us  if  you 
don't  win." 

"  I  do  not  feel  by  any  means  sure  about  it,"  he  said. 
"  I  fancy  there  will  be  several  boats  that  have  not  raced 
yet.  this  season,  and  as  two  of  them  are  new  ones,  there 
is  no  saying  what  they  may  turn  out." 

Frank  only  stayed  two  days  in  town.  He  learned 
from  Jack  Hawley  that  it  was  reported  that  Lord  Chil- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  109 

son  and  George  Delamore  had  both  been  refused  by 
Bertha  Greendale. 

"  Chilson  went  away  suddenly,"  he  said ;  "  as  to 
Delamore,  of  course  as  he  is  a  Member  he  had  to  stop 
through  the  Session,  but  from  what  I  hear,  and  as  you 
know  I  have  some  good  sources  of  information,  I  am 
pretty  sure  that  he  has  got  his  conge  too.  I  fancy 
Carthew  is  the  favourite.  As  a  rule  I  don't  like  these 
men  who  go  in  for  racing,  but  he  is  a  deuced  nice 
fellow.  I  have  seen  a  good  deal  of  him;  he  put  me 
up  to  a  good  thing  for  the  Derby  ten  days  ago.  He 
gives  uncommonly  good  supper  parties,  and  has  asked 
me  several  times,  but  I  have  not  gone  to  them,  for  I 
believe  there  is  a  good  deal  of  play  afterwards,  and  I 
cannot  stand  unlimited  loo." 

"  Is  he  lucky  himself  ? "  Frank  asked. 

"  No,  quite  the  other  way,  I  hear ;  I  know  a  man 
who  has  been  to  three  or  four  of  his  suppers,  and  he 
told  me  that  Carthew  had  lost  every  time,  once  or  twice 
pretty  heavily." 

"  Carthew's  horse  ran  second,  didn't  it,  for  the 
Derby?" 

"  Yes,  the  betting  was  twenty  to  one  against  him 
at  starting." 

"  I  wonder  he  did  not  give  that  tip  as  well  as  the 
other." 

"Well,  he  did  say  that  he  thought  it  might  run 
into  a  place,  but  that  he  was  sure  that  he  had  no 
chance  with  the  favourite.  As  it  turned  out,  he  was 
nearer  winning  than  he  expected;  for  the  favourite 
went  down  the  day  before  the  race  from  5  to  4  on  to 
10  to  1  against.  There  was  a  report  about  that  he 
had  gone  wrong  in  some  way.  Some  fellows  said  that 
there  had  been  an  attempt  to  get  at  him,  others  that 
he  had  got  a  nail  in  his  foot.  The  general  feeling  had 
been  that  he  would  win  in  a  canter,  but  as  it  was  he 
only  beat  Carthew's  horse  by  a  short  head." 
8 


HO  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  Had  Carthew  backed  his  horse  to  win  ?  " 

"  He  told  me  that  he  had  only  backed  it  for  a  hun- 
dred, but  had  put  five  hundred  on  it  for  a  place,  and  as 
he  got  six  to  one  against  it  he  came  uncommonly  well 
out  of  it." 

"  And  do  you  think  it  likely  that  Miss  Greendale 
will  accept  him  ?  " 

"  Ah !  that  I  cannot  say.  He  has  certainly  been 
making  very  strong  running,  and  if  I  were  a  betting 
man  I  should  not  mind  laying  two  to  one  on  the  event 
coming  off." 

Frank  joined  the  Osprey,  which  was  lying  off  Ports- 
mouth Harbour,  on  the  following  day.  "  I  am  back 
earlier  than  I  expected,  George,"  he  said,  as  Lechmere 
met  him  at  the  station.  "  I  have  got  tired  of  London, 
and  want  to  be  on  board  again." 

"Nothing  gone  wrong  in  town,  I  hope,  Major?" 
George  said  next  day,  as  he  was  removing  the  break- 
fast things ;  "  you  will  excuse  my  asking,  but  you 
don't  seem  to  me  to  be  yourself  since  you  came  on 
board." 

"Well,  yes,  George, -I  am  upset,  I  confess;  I  am 
sure  you  will  be  sorry,  too,  when  I  tell  you  that  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  Miss  Greendale  is  going  to 
marry  Mr.  Carthew." 

George  put  the  dish  he  was  holding  down  on  the 
table  with  a  crash,  and  stood  gazing  at  Frank  in  blank 
dismay. 

"  Why,  sir,  I  thought,"  he  said,  slowly,  "  that  it  was 
going  to  be  you  and  Miss  Greendale.  I  had  always 
thought  so.  Excuse  me,  sir,  I  don't  mean  any  offence, 
but  that  is  what  we  have  all  thought  ever  since  she 
came  down  to  christen  the  yacht." 

"  There  is  no  offence,  George ;  yes,  I  don't  mind 
telling  you  that  I  had  hoped  so  myself,  but  it  was  not 
to  be.  You  see,  Miss  Greendale  has  known  me  since 
she  was  a  child,  and  she  has  never  thought  of  me  in 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  HI 

any  other  way  than  as  a  sort  of  cousin — someone  she 
liked  very  much,  but  had  never  thought  of  for  a  mo- 
ment as  one  she  could  marry.  That  is  all  past  and 
gone,  but  I  should  be  sorry,  most  sorry,  for  her  to 
marry  Carthew,  knowing  what  I  do  of  him." 

"  But  it  must  not  be,  sir,"  George  said,  vehemently ; 
"you  can  never  let  that  sweet  young  lady  marry  that 
black-hearted  villain." 

"  Unfortunately  I  cannot  prevent  it,  George." 

"  Why,  sir,  you  would  only  have  to  tell  her  about 
Martha,  and  I  am  sure  it  would  do  for  his  business. 
Miss  Greendale  can  know  nothing  about  it.  So  far  as 
I  can  remember,  she  was  not  more  than  sixteen  at  the 
time.  I  don't  suppose  Lady  Greendale  ever  heard  of 
it.  She  knew,  of  course,  of  Martha's  being  missing, 
because  it  made  quite  a  stir,  but  I  don't  suppose  that 
she  heard  of  her  coming  back.  She  was  only  at  home 
three  weeks  before  she  died.  There  were  not  many 
that  ever  saw  her,  and  father  told  me  that  he  and  the 
others  made  it  so  hot  for  Carthew  one  day  at  Chippen- 
ham  market  that  he  never  came  down  again,  and  sold 
the  place  soon  after.  I  don't  suppose  the  gentry  ever 
heard  anything  about  it;  if  they  had,  Lady  Greendale 
would  surely  never  let  her  daughter  marry  him." 

"No,  I  feel  sure  she  would  not;  but  still,  George, 
I  don't  see  that  I  can  possibly  interfere  in  the  matter; 
the  story  is  three  years  old  now,  and  even  if  it  had  only 
happened  yesterday,  I,  after  what  has  occurred  be- 
tween us,  could  not  come  forward  as  his  accuser.  It 
would  have  the  appearance  of  spite  on  my  side;  and 
besides,  I  have  no  proof  whatever.  He  would,  of 
course,  deny  the  whole  thing;  I  do  not  mean  that  he 
would  deny  that  she  said  so — he  could  not  do  that — 
but  he  might  declare  that  she  had  spoken  falsely,  and 
might  even  say  that  it  was  an  attempt  to  put  another's 
sin  on  his  shoulders.  Moreover,  as  I  told  you,  I  have 
other  reasons  for  disliking  the  man,  and,  on  the  face 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

of  it,  it  would  seem  that  I  had  raked  up  this  old  story 
against  him,  not  only  from  jealousy,  but  from  personal 
malice.  No,  it  is  out  of  the  question  that  I  should 
interfere;  I  would  give  everything  that  I  am  worth 
to  be  able  to  do  so,  but  it  is  impossible.  If  I  had  full 
and  unquestionable  proofs  I  would  go  to  Lady  Green- 
dale  and  lay  the  matter  before  her.  But  I  have  no  such 
proofs;  there  is  nothing  whatever  except  that  poor 
girl's  word  against  his." 

George's  lips  closed,  and  an  expression  of  grim 
determination  came  over  his  face.  "  I  dare  say  you 
are  right,  Major,"  he  said,  after  a  pause,  "  but  it  seems 
to  me  hard  that  Miss  Greendale  should  be  sacrificed  to 
a  man  like  that." 

Frank  did  not  reply.  He  had  already  thought  the 
matter  over  and  over  again,  and  had  reached  the  opin- 
ion that  he  could  not  interfere.  If  he  had  not  him- 
self proposed  to  her,  and  been  refused,  he  might  have 
moved.  Up  to  that  time  he  had  stood  in  the  position 
of  an  old  friend  of  the  family,  and  as  such  could  well 
have  spoken  to  Lady  Greendale  on  a  matter  that  so 
vitally  concerned  Bertha's  happiness.  Now  his  tak- 
ing that  step  would  have  the  appearance  of  being  the 
interference  of  a  disappointed  rival,  rather  than  of  a 
disinterested  friend.  He  went  up  on  deck,  sat  there 
for  a  time,  and  at  last  arrived  at  a  conclusion. 

"  It  is  my  duty.  There  can  be  no  doubt  about 
that,"  he  said  to  himself.  "  If  Bertha  really  loves 
Carthew,  she  will  believe  his  denial  rather  than  my 
accusation,  unsupported  as  it  is  by  a  scrap  of  real 
evidence.  In  that  case,  she  will  put  down  my  story 
as  a  piece  of  malice  and  meanness.  But,  after  all, 
that  will  matter  little.  I  had  better  far  lose  her  liking 
and  esteem  than  my  own  self-respect.  I  will  tell  Lady 
Greendale  about  this.  The  responsibility  will  be  off 
my  hands  then.  She  may  not  view  the  matter  as  an 
absolute  bar  to  Carthew's  marrying  Bertha — that  is 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  113 

her  business  and  Bertha's — but  at  any  rate  I  shall 
have  done  my  duty.  I  will  wait,  however,  until  Bertha 
has  accepted  him. 

"  I  have  made  up  my  mind,  George,"  he  said,  later 
on.  "  If  I  hear  that  Miss  Greendale  has  accepted  Car- 
thew  I  shall  go  to  her  mother  and  tell  her  the  story. 
I  have  little  hope  that  it  will  do  much  good;  it  is  very 
hard  to  make  a  girl  believe  anything  against  the  man 
she  loves,  until  it  can  be  proved  beyond  doubt,  and 
as  Carthew  will  of  course  indignantly  deny  that  he 
had  anything  to  do  with  it,  I  expect  that  it  will  have 
no  effect  whatever,  beyond  making  her  dislike  me  cor- 
dially. Still,  that  cannot  be  helped;  it  is  clearly  my 
duty  not  only  as  her  friend,  but  as  the  friend  of  her 
father  and  mother.  But  I  wish  that  the  task  did  not 
fall  upon  me." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  that,  Major,"  George 
said,  quietly.  "  I  can  see,  sir,  that,  as  you  say,  it  would 
be  better  if  anyone  else  could  do  it,  but  Lady  Green- 
dale  has  known  you  for  so  many  years  that  she  must 
surely  know  that  you  would  never  have  told  her  unless 
you  believed  the  story  to  be  true." 

"No  doubt  she  will,  George.  I  hope 'Miss  Green- 
dale  will,  too;  but  even  if  she  does  not  see  it  in  that 
light  I  cannot  help  it.  Well,  I  will  go  ashore  to  the 
club-house  and  find  out  whether  they  have  heard  any- 
thing about  the  entries  for  the  cup." 

When  he  returned  he  said, to  the  captain:  "I  hear 
that  the  Phantom  has  entered,  Hawkins;  I  am  told 
that  she  has  just  come  off  the  slips  and  that  she  has 
had  a  new  suit  of  racing  canvas  made  by  Lapthorne." 

"Well,  sir,  I  think  that  we  ought  to  have  a  good 
chance  with  her;  she  has  shown  herself  a  very  fast 
boat  the  few  times  she  has  been  raced,  but  so  have  we, 
and  taking  the  line  through  boats  that  we  have  both 
sailed  against,  I  think  that  we  ought  to  be  able  to 
beat  her." 


H4  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"I  have  rather  a  fancy  that  we  shan't  do  so, 
Hawkins;  we  will  do  our  best,  but  I  have  met  Mr. 
Carthew  a  good  many  times,  for  we  were  at  school  and 
college  together,  and  somehow  or  other  he  has  always 
managed  to  beat  me." 

"  Ah !  well,  we  will  turn  the  tables  on  him  this 
time,  sir." 

"  I  hope  so,  but  it  has  gone  so  often  the  other  way 
that  I  have  got  to  be  a  little  superstitious  about  it.  I 
would  give  a  good  deal  to  beat  him;  I  should  like  to 
win  the  Queen's  Cup,  as  you  know ;  but  even  if  I  didn't 
win  it  I  should  be  quite  satisfied  if  I  but  beat  him." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

IT  was  the  week  of  the  Ryde  Regatta.  At  that  time 
Hyde  disputed  with  Cowes  the  glory  of  being  the  head- 
quarters of  yachting,  and  the  scene  was  a  gay  one. 
Every  house  in  the  neighbourhood  was  crowded  with 
guests,  many  had  been  let  for  the  week  at  fabulous 
rates,  the  town  was  bright  with  flags,  and  a  great  fleet 
of  yachts  was  moored  off  the  town  extending  from  the 
pier  westward  as  far  as  the  hulks.  The  lawn  of  the 
Victoria  Yacht  Club  was  gay  with  ladies,  a  military 
band  was  playing,  boats  rowed  backwards  and  for- 
wards between  the  yachts  and  the  club-houses. 

It  was  the  first  day  of  the  Regatta,  and  the  Queen's 
Cup  was  not  to  be  sailed  for  until  the  third.  On  the 
previous  morning  Frank  had  received  a  note  from  Lady 
Greendale,  saying  that  they  had  arrived  with  Lord 
Haverley's  party  the  day  before,  and  enclosing  an  in- 
vitation from  him  to  dinner  that  day.  He  went  up 
to  call  as  soon  as  he  received  it,  but  excused  himself 
from  dining  on  the  ground  of  a  previous  engagement, 
as  he  felt  sure  that  Carthew  would  be  one  of  the  party. 

"  I  suppose,  Lady  Greendale,  it  is  no  use  asking 
you  and  Bertha  to  sail  in  the  Osprey  on  Friday?" 

"I  should  not  think  of  going,  Frank;  a  racing 
yacht  is  no  place  for  an  old  lady.  As  for  Bertha,  she 
is  already  engaged;  Mr.  Carthew  asked  her  a  fort- 
night since  to  sail  on  the  Phantom.  Lady  Olive  Mars- 
ton  and  her  cousin,  Miss  Haverley,  are  also  going.  I 
know  that  it  is  not  very  usual  for  ladies  to  go  on  rac- 
ing yachts,  but  they  are  all  accustomed  to  yachting, 

115 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

and  Mr.  Carthew  declares  that  they  won't  be  in  the 
way  in  the  least." 

"  I  don't  see  why  they  should  be,"  Frank  said,  after 
a  short  pause ;  "  of  course,  in  a  small  boat  it  would 
be  different,  but  in  a  craft  like  the  Phantom  there  is 
plenty  of  room  for  two  or  three  ladies  without  their 
getting  in  the  way  of  the  crew.  Well,  I  must  be 
going,"  he  broke  off  somewhat  hastily,  for  he  saw  a 
group  coming  down  the  garden  path  towards  the  house. 
It  consisted  of  Bertha  and  two  other  ladies,  Carthew 
and  another  man. 

"  What  other  evening  would  suit  you,  Frank  ? " 
Lady  Greendale  asked  as  he  rose. 

"  I  am  afraid  I  am  engaged  all  through  the  week, 
Lady  Greendale." 

"I  am  sorry,"  she  said,  quietly,  "but  perhaps  it 
is  for  the  best,  Frank."  The  door  closed  behind  him 
just  as  the  party  from  the  garden  entered  through  the 
French  windows. 

The  next  morning  George  Lechmere  went  ashore 
with  the  steward,  when  the  latter  landed  to  do  his 
marketing.  The  street  up  the  hill  was  crowded,  and 
numbers  of  yachts'  sailors  were  ashore.  Stewards  with 
the  flat  rush  baskets,  universally  used  by  them,  were 
going  from  shop  to  shop,  groups  of  sailors  were  chat- 
ting over  the  events  of  the  day,  and  carriages  were 
standing  before  the  fishmongers',  poulterers',  and  fruit 
and  flower  shops,  while  the  owners  were  laying  in  sup- 
plies for  their  guests.  People  had  driven  in  from  all 
parts  of  the  island  to  see  the  races,  and  light  country 
carts  with  eggs,  butter,  fowls,  and  fruit  were  making 
their  way  down  the  steep  hill. 

George  had  learnt  from  a  casual  remark  of  Frank's 
where  the  house  taken  by  Lord  Haverley  was  situated, 
and  going  up  the  hill  turned  to  the  right  and  kept  on 
until  he  came  to  a  large  house  embowered  in  trees. 
Breakfast  was  just  over  when  a  servant  told  Bertha 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  117 

that  a  gentleman  who  said  his  name  was  George  Lech- 
mere  wished  to  speak  to  her.  She  went  out  to  him  in 
the  hall. 

"Well,  George,"  she  said,  holding  out  her  hand  to 
him  frankly,  for  he  was  a  great  favourite  of  hers,  "  I 
suppose  you  have  brought  me  up  a  message  from  Major 
Mallett?" 

"No,  Miss  Greendale,  the  Major  does  not  know 
that  I  have  come  to  you.  It  is  on  my  own  account  that 
I  am  here ;  could  you  spare  me  a  quarter  of  an  hour  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  George,"  she  said,  in  some  surprise ; 
"  I  will  come  out  into  the  garden ;  we  are  likely  to 
have  it  to  ourselves  at  this  hour." 

She  fetched  her  hat,  and  they  went  out  into  the 
garden  together.  George  did  not  attempt  to  speak  until 
they  reached  the  other  end,  where  there  was  a  seat  in 
a  shady  corner. 

"  Sit  down,  George,"  she  said. 

"  Thank  you,  Miss  Greendale,  I  would  rather 
stand,"  and  he  took  his  place  in  front  of  her.  "  I  have 
a  story  to  tell  you,"  he  said.  "  It  is  very  painful  for 
me  to  have  to  tell  it,  and  it  will  be  painful  for  you  to 
hear  it;  but  I  am  sure  that  you  ought  to  know." 

Bertha  did  not  say  anything,  but  looked  at  him 
with  eyes  wide  open  with  surprise. 

"  I  am  sure,  Miss  Greendale,"  George  went  on, 
"that  the  Major  never  told  you  that  the  bad  wound 
he  received  at  Delhi  that  all  but  killed  him,  was  my 
doing — that  he  was  wounded  by  a  ball  from  my 
musket." 

"  No,  George,  he  certainly  never  said  so ;  I  sup- 
pose he  was  in  front  of  you,  and  your  musket  went  off 
accidentally  ? " 

"  No,  Miss  Greendale,  I  took  deliberate  aim  at  him, 
and  it  was  only  the  mercy  of  God  that  saved  his  life." 

Bertha  was  too  surprised  and  shocked  to  speak, 
and  he  went  on: 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  He  himself  thought  that  he  had  been  hit  by  a 
Sepoy  bullet,  and  it  was  only  when  I  sent  for  him,  be- 
lieving that  I  had  received  my  death  wound,  that  he 
knew  that  it  was  I  who  had  hit  him." 

"  But  for  what  ? "  she  asked.  "  What  made  you 
do  this  terrible  thing?  I  thought  he  was  liked  by  his 
men." 

"  There  was  no  one  liked  better,  Miss  Greendale ; 
he  was  the  most  popular  officer  in  the  regiment,  and 
if  the  soldiers  had  known  it,  and  I  had  escaped  being 
hung  for  it,  I  should  have  been  shot  the  first  time  I 
went  into  action  afterwards.  It  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  army;  I  enlisted  in  his  company  on  purpose 
to  shoot  him." 

Bertha  could  hardly  believe  her  ears.  She  looked 
at  the  man  earnestly;  surely  he  could  not  have  been 
drinking  at  that  time  of  the  morning,  and  she  would 
have  doubted  his  sanity  had  it  not  been  for  the  calm 
and  earnest  look  in  his  face.  He  went  on: 

"  I  came  here  to  tell  you  why  I  shot  at  him." 

"  I  don't  want  to  hear,"  she  said,  hurriedly ;  "  it  is 
no  business  of  mine.  I  know  that  whatever  it  was 
Major  Mallett  must  have  forgiven  you;  besides,  you 
saved  his  life  afterwards." 

"  Excuse  me,  Miss  Greendale,  but  it  is  a  matter 
that  concerns  you,  and  I  pray  you  to  listen  to  me. 
You  have  heard  of  Martha  Bennett,  the  poor  girl  who 
disappeared  four  years  ago,  and  who  was  thought  to 
have  been  murdered." 

"  Yes,  I  remember  the  talk  about  it ;  it  was  never 
known  who  had  done  it." 

"  She  was  not  murdered,"  he  said ;  "  she  returned 
some  months  afterwards,  but  only  to  die.  It  was  about 
the  time  that  Sir  John  was  ill,  and  naturally  you  would 
have  heard  nothing  of  it.  Well,  Miss  Greendale,  I  was 
at  one  time  engaged  to  Martha.  I  was  of  a  jealous, 
passionate  disposition,  and  I  did  not  make  enough 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  119 

allowance  for  her  being  young  and  naturally  fond  of 
admiration.  I  quarrelled  with  her  and  the  engage- 
ment was  broken  off,  but  I  still  loved  her  with  all  my 
heart  and  soul." 

Then  he  went  on  to  tell  of  how  maddened  he  had 
been  when  he  had  seen  her  talking  to  Major  Mallett, 
and  of  the  conversation  he  had  overheard  in  her  fa- 
ther's garden,  on  the  evening  before  she  was  miss- 
ing. 

"  I  jumped  at  the  conclusion  at  once,  Miss  Green- 
dale,  that  it  was  Captain  Mallett,  as  he  was  then.  He 
had  been  round  saying  good-bye  to  the  tenants  that 
afternoon,  and  I  knew  that  he  was  going  abroad.  What 
could  I  suppose  but  that  he  had  ruined  my  poor  girl, 
and  had  persuaded  her  to  go  out  to  join  him  in  India? 
I  waited  for  a  time,  while  they  searched  for  the  body 
I  knew  they  would  never  find.  My  own  father  and 
mother  in  their  hearts  thought  that  I  had  murdered 
her  in  a  fit  of  jealous  rage.  At  last  I  made  up  my  mind 
to  enlist  in  his  regiment,  to  follow  him  to  India,  kill 
him,  find  her,  and  bring  her  home." 

"  How  dreadful !  "  the  girl  murmured. 

"  It  was  dreadful,  Miss  Greendale ;  I  believe  now 
that  I  must  have  been  mad  at  the  time.  However,  I 
did  it,  but  at  the  end  failed.  Mercifully  I  was  saved 
from  being  a  murderer.  As  I  told  you,  I  was  badly 
wounded;  I  thought  I  was  going  to  die,  and  the  doc- 
tor thought  so  too.  So  I  sent  for  Captain  Mallett  that 
I  might  have  the  satisfaction  of  letting  him  know  that 
it  was  I  who  fired  the  shot,  and  that  it  was  in  revenge 
for  the  wrong  that  he  had  done  Martha.  When  I  told 
him  I  saw  by  his  face,  even  before  he  spoke,  that  I  had 
been  wrong.  He  knew  nothing  whatever  of  it.  Well, 
miss,  he  forgave  me — forgave  me  wholly.  He  told  me 
that  he  should  never  mention  it  to  a  soul,  and  as  he 
has  never  mentioned  it  even  to  you,  you  may  see  how 
well  he  has  kept  his  word.  I  wanted  to  leave  the  regi- 


120  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

ment;  I  felt  that  I  could  never  mix  with  my  comrades, 
knowing  as  I  did  that  I  had  tried  to  murder  their 
favourite  officer.  But  the  Major  would  not  hear  of  it; 
he  insisted  that  I  should  stay,  and,  even  more,  he  prom- 
ised that  as  soon  as  I  was  out  of  hospital  I  should  be 
his  servant,  saying  that  as  the  son  of  an  old  tenant, 
he  would  rather  have  me  than  anyone  else.  You  can 
well  imagine,  then,  Miss  Greendale,  how  willingly  I 
would  have  given  my  life  for  him,  and  that  when  the 
chance  came  I  gladly  faced  odds  to  save  him.  Before 
that  I  had  come  to  learn  who  the  man  was.  It  was  a 
letter  from  my  father  that  first  gave  me  the  clue;  he 
mentioned  that  another  gentleman  had  left  the  neigh- 
bourhood and  gone  abroad,  just  at  the  time  that  Major 
Mallett  did.  He  was  a  man  who  had  once  made  me 
madly  jealous  by  his  attentions  to  Martha  at  a  fete 
given  to  his  tenants. 

"  The  Major  had  the  same  thought,  and  he  told 
me  that  he  knew  the  man  was  a  bad  fellow,  though 
he  did  not  say  why  he  thought  so.  Then  I  heard  that 
Martha  had  returned  to  die,  and  I  learned  that  she 
had  told  her  mother  the  name  of  her  destroyer,  who 
deserted  her  three  months  after  he  had  taken  her  away. 
When  he  came  back  from  abroad  her  father  and  mine 
and  some  others  met  him  at  Chippenham  market; 
they  attacked  him,  and  I  believe  would  have  killed 
him,  had  he  not  ridden  off.  The  next  day  he  went  up 
to  London,  and  a  fortnight  later  his  estate  was  in  the 
market,  and  he  never  came  into  that  part  of  the  coun- 
try again.  I  have  told  you  all  this,  Miss  Greendale, 
because  I  have  heard  that  you  know  the  man,  and  I 
thought  you  ought  to  know  what  sort  of  a  man  he  is. 
His  name  is  Carthew." 

Bertha  had  grown  paler  and  paler  as  the  story  went 
on,  and  when  he  ended,  she  sat  still  and  silent  for  two 
or  three  minutes.  Then  she  said  in  a  low  tone,  "  Thank 
you,  George,  you  have  done  right  in  telling  me  this 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  121 

story;  it  is  one  that  I  ought  to  know.  I  wonder " 

and  she  stopped. 

"  You  wonder  that  the  Major  did  not  tell  you,  Miss 
Greendale.  I  asked  him  myself.  When  you  think  it 
over  you  will  understand  why  he  could  not  tell  you, 
for  he  had  no  actual  proof,  save  the  dying  girl's  words 
and  what  I  had  seen  and  heard,  and  his  motive  in 
telling  it  might  have  been  misunderstood.  But  he  told 
me  that  even  at  the  risk  of  that  he  should  feel  it  his 
duty,  if  you  became  engaged  to  that  villain,  to  tell 
the  story  to  Lady  Greendale.  But  if  he  found  it  hard 
to  speak,  there  seemed  to  me  no  reason  why  I  shouldn't. 
Except  my  father  and  mother  and  he,  no  one  knows 
that  I  was  well  nigh  a  murderer.  And  though  he  has 
so  generously  forgiven  me,  and  I  have  in  a  small  way 
tried  to  show  my  gratitude  to  him,  it  was  still  pain- 
ful to  me  to  have  to  tell  the  story  to  anyone  else.  But 
I  felt  that  I  ought  to  do  it,  not  for  his  sake,  because 
he  has  told  me  that  what  I  had  looked  for  and  what 
he  had  so  hoped  for  is  not  to  be,  but  because  I  thought 
that  you  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  sacrifice  your  life 
to  such  a  man,  and  partly,  too,  because  I  wished  to 
spare  my  dear  master  the  pain  of  telling  the  story  and 
of  perhaps  being  misunderstood." 

"  Thank  you,  George,"  she  said,  quietly,  "  you  have 
done  quite  right  in  telling  me." 

At  this  moment  some  voices  were  heard  at  the  other 
end  of  the  garden.  "  I  will  be  going  at  once,"  George 
said,  seizing  the  opportunity  of  getting  away,  and  turn- 
ing, he  walked  down  the  garden  and  left  the  house. 

"  Who  is  your  friend,  Bertha  ? "  Miss  Haverley 
said,  laughingly,  as  she  met  Bertha  coming  slowly  down 
the  garden.  "  Why — is  anything  the  matter  ?  "  she  ex- 
claimed, as  she  caught  sight  of  her  face. 

"  I  have  become  suddenly  faint,  Hannah,"  Bertha 
replied ;  "  I  suppose  it  was  the  heat  yesterday ;  and  it 
is  very  warm  this  morning  too.  I  am  better  now,  and 


122  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

it  will  soon  pass  over.  I  will  go  in-doors  for  half  an 
hour,  and  then  I  shall  be  quite  right  again.  My  friend 
is  no  one  particular.  He  is  Major  Mallett's  factotum. 
He  only  brought  me  up  a  message,  but  as  I  know  all 
the  men  on  the  Osprey,  and  have  not  been  on  board 
this  season,  of  course  there  was  a  good  deal  to  ask 
about." 

"  Well,  you  must  get  well  as  soon  as  you  can," 
Miss  Haverley  said;  "you  know  we  shall  leave  in  half 
an  hour  for  the  yacht,  so  as  to  get  under  way  in  time 
for  the  start." 

At  the  appointed  time,  Bertha  joined  the  party 
below.  Her  eyes  looked  heavy  and  her  cheeks  were 
flushed,  but  she  assured  Miss  Haverley  that  she  felt 
quite  herself  now,  and  that  she  was  sure  that  the  sea 
air  would  set  her  up  altogether.  The  schooner  was 
under  way  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  the  gun  was 
fired,  and  sailed  east,  as  the  course  was  twice  round  the 
Nab  and  back. 

Yachts  were  flitting  about  in  all  directions,  for  a 
light  air  had  only  sprung  up  during  the  last  half  hour. 

"  There  is  the  Phantom,"  Lord  Haverley  said ; 
"  she  has  been  cruising  about  the  last  two  days  to  get 
her  sails  stretched,  and  they  look  uncommonly  well. 
Carthew  told  me  yesterday  that  she  would  be  across 
early  this  morning,  and  that  he  should  go  round  with 
the  race  to  see  how  she  did.  I  think  you  young  ladies 
will  have  a  very  good  chance  of  being  able  to  boast 
that  you  have  sailed  in  the  yacht  that  won  the  Queen's 
Cup.  I  fancy  it  lies  between  her  and  the  Osprey.  Mal- 
lett  is  getting  up  sail  too,  I  see,  but  as  the  Phantom 
is  going  with  the  race,  I  don't  suppose  he  will.  She  is 
a  fine  craft,  though  I  own  I  like  the  cutter  rig  better. 
The  Phantom  will  have  to  allow  her  time,  but  not  a 
great  deal,  for  the  yawl  is  the  heaviest  tonnage.  There 
is  the  starting  gun.  They  are  all  close  together  at 
the  line.  That  is  a  pretty  sight,  Lady  Greendale;  talk 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  123 

about  the  start  of  race-horses,  it  is  no  more  to  be  com- 
pared with  it  than  light  to  dark." 

After  cruising  about  for  three  or  four  hours,  their 
schooner  dropped  anchor  near  the  Osprey,  which  had 
come  in  half  an  hour  before. 

"  Have  you  ever  been  on  board  the  Osprey,  Lord 
Haverley  ?  "  Bertha  asked. 

"  No,  my  dear,  I  don't  know  that  I  have  ever  before 
been  in  any  port  with  your  friend  Major  Mallett." 

"  Well,  what  do  you  say  to  our  going  on  board  for 
a  few  minutes,  on  our  way  to  shore?  Mamma  and  I 
are  very  fond  of  her,  and  I  am  her  godmother,  having 
christened  her." 

"  Godmother  and  curate  coupled  in  one,  eh,  Bertha  ? 
We  will  go  by  all  means;  that  is  to  say,  we  cannot  in- 
vade him  in  a  body,  but  those  of  us  who  know  Mallett 
can  go  on  board,  and  the  gig  can  come  back  and  take 
the  rest  ashore  and  then  come  to  fetch  us." 

Accordingly,  Lord  Haverley  and  his  daughter,  Lady 
Greendale  and  Bertha,  and  two  others  of  the  party 
were  rowed  to  the  Osprey.  Frank  saw  them  coming 
and  met  them  at  the  gangway. 

"We  are  taking  you  by  storm,  Major,"  Lord  Hav- 
erley said,  "but  Lady  Greendale  and  her  daughter 
claim  an  almost  proprietary  interest  in  the  Osprey,  be- 
cause the  latter  is  her  godmother.  Indeed,  we  are  all 
naturally  interested  in  her,  too,  as  being  one  of  our 
cracks.  She  is  a  very  smart-looking  craft,  though  I 
think  it  is  a  pity  that  she  is  not  cutter-rigged." 

"  She  would  look  prettier,  no  doubt,"  Frank  said, 
"  but,  you  see,  though  she  was  built  as  a  racer,  and  I 
like  a  race  occasionally,  that  was  not  my  primary  ob- 
ject. I  wanted  her  for  cruising,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  a  yawl  is  more  handy,  and  you  can  work  her 
with  fewer  hands  than  you  can  a  cutter  of  the  same 
size." 

They  went  round  the  vessel,  and  then  returning 


124  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

on  deck,  sat  down  and  chatted  while  waiting  for  the 
boat's  return. 

"  I  sincerely  hope  that  you  will  win,  Frank,  on 
Friday,"  Lady  Greendale  said ;  "  our  sympathies  are 
rather  divided,  but  I  hope  the  Osprey  will  win." 

"  Thank  you,  Lady  Greendale,  but  I  am  by  no 
means  sanguine  about  it.  I  fancy,  Miss  Haverley,  that 
you  and  Miss  Greendale  will  see  the  winning  flag  fly- 
ing overhead  when  the  race  is  over." 

"Why  do  you  think  so,  Major?"  Lord  Haverley 
asked.  "  The  general  opinion  is  that  your  record  is 
better  than  that  of  the  Phantom.  She  has  done  well  in 
the  two  or  three  races  she  has  sailed,  but  she  certainly 
did  not  beat  the  Lesbia  or  the  Mermaid  by  as  much 
as  you  did." 

"  That  may  be,"  Frank  agreed,  "  but  I  regard  Car- 
thew  as  having  been  born  under  a  lucky  star;  and 
though  my  own  opinion  is  that  if  the  Phantom  were  in 
other  hands  we  should  beat  her,  I  fancy  his  luck  will 
pull  her  through." 

Haverley  laughed.  "  I  should  not  have  given  you 
credit  for  being  superstitious,  Major." 

"  I  don't  think  that  I  have  many  superstitions,  but 
I  own  to  something  like  it  in  this  case." 

Bertha  looked  earnestly  at  him.  Just  before  the 
gig  returned  from  the  shore,  she  and  Frank  were  stand- 
ing together. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  I  shall  not  have  your  good  wishes 
to-morrow,"  he  said. 

"  I  have  not  said  that  anyone  will  have  my  good 
wishes,"  she  replied.  "  I  shall  be  on  board  the  Phan- 
tom because  I  was  invited  there  before  you  asked  me, 
but  my  hope  is  that  the  best  yacht  will  win.  I  want  to 
speak  to  you  for  a  minute  or  two;  when  can  I  see 
you?" 

"  I  can  come  up  to-morrow  morning  early,"  he  re- 
plied. "What  time  will  best  suit  you?" 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  125 

"  Ten  o'clock ;  please  ask  for  mamma." 

The  next  morning,  Lady  Greendale  and  Bertha 
came  together  into  the  sitting-room  into  which  Frank 
had  been  shown  on  calling  at  Lord  Haverley's. 

"  You  are  early,  Frank." 

"  Yes,  Lady  Greendale,  I  am  going  for  a  run  round 
the  island;  it  makes  me  fidgety  to  sit  all  day  with 
nothing  to  do,  and  I  am  always  contented  when  I  am 
under  sail.  As  I  shan't  have  time  to  come  in  to-mor- 
row morning,  for  you  know  we  start  at  nine,  I  thought 
that  I  would  drop  in  this  morning,  even  if  the  hour 
was  an  early  one." 

After  chatting  for  a  few  minutes,  Lady  Greendale 
made  some  excuse  to  leave  the  room. 

"  She  knew  that  you  were  coming,  and  that  I  wanted 
to  speak  to  you,"  said  Bertha. 

"Well,  what  is  it — anything  of  importance?"  he 
asked  with  a  smile. 

She  hesitated  and  then  went  on.  "  Some  words 
you  spoke  yesterday  recalled  to  me  something  you  said 
nearly  four  years  ago.  Do  you  remember  when  we  sat 
next  to  each  other  in  the  twilight,  the  day  before  you 
went  to  India?  We  were  talking  about  superstitions 
then,  and  you  told  me  that  you  had  only  one,  and  said 
what  it  was — you  remember  ?  " 

"  I  remember,"  he  said,  gravely. 

"About  someone  who  had  beaten  you  always  and 
who  you  thought  always  would  beat  you,  if  you  came 
in  contact  again.  You  would  not  tell  me  his  name; 
was  it  Mr.  Carthew  ?  " 

"I  would  not  answer  the  question  then,  Bertha, 
and  you  surely  cannot  expect  me  to  answer  it  now." 

"  I  do  expect  you  to  answer  it." 

"  Then  I  must  most  emphatically  decline  to  do  so," 
he  said.  "What!  do  you  think  that  if  it  were  he,  I 
would  be  so  base  as  to  discredit  him  now?  For  you 
must  remember  that  I  said  that  only  one  of  my  de- 
ft 


126  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

feats  was  due  to  foul  play,  that  most  of  the  others 
were  simply  due  to  the  fact  that  he  was  a  better  man 
than  I  was.  The  matter  has  long  since  been  forgotten, 
and,  whoever  it  is,  I  w*ould  not  prejudice  him  in  the 
opinion  of  anyone  by  raising  up  that  old  story.  1  have 
no  shadow  of  proof  that  it  was  he  who  damaged  my 
boat;  it  might  have  been  the  act  of  some  boatman 
about  the  place  who  had  laid  his  money  against  my 
winning." 

"  That  is  enough,"  she  said  quietly.  "  I  did  not 
think  that  you  would  tell  me  whether  it  was  Mr.  Car- 
thew,  but  I  was  sure  that  if  it  were  not  he  you  would 
not  hesitate  to  say  so.  Thank  you,  that  is  all  I  wanted 
to  see  you  for.  What  you  said  yesterday  brought 
that  talk  we  had  so  vividly  into  my  mind  that  I  could 
not  resist  asking  you.  It  explained  what  seemed  to 
me  at  the  time  to  be  strange;  how  it  was  that  you, 
who  are  generally  so  cordial  in  your  manner,  were  so 
cold  to  him  when  you  first  met  him  at  our  house.  I 
thought  that  there  might  be  something  more  serious," 
and  she  looked  him  full  in  the  face. 

"  Perhaps  I  am  a  prejudiced  beggar,"  he  said,  with 
an  attempt  to  smile,  and  then  added  somewhat  bit- 
terly, "  You  see  things  since  have  not  been  calculated 
to  make  me  specially  generous  in  his  case." 

She  did  not  reply,  and  after  a  moment's  pause  he 
said,  "Well,  as  Lady  Greendale  seems  to  be  busy,  I 
will  be  going." 

"You  will  come  to  the  ball  to-morrow  evening, 
won't  you  ? "  she  asked. 

"  I  suppose  I  shall  have  to,"  he  said.  "  If  I  win, 
though  mind  I  feel  sure  that  I  shan't,  it  will  seem 
odd  if  I  don't  come.  If  I  lose,  it  will  look  as  if  I 
sulked." 

"  You  must  come,"  she  said,  "  and  you  must  have 
a  dance  with  me.  You  have  not  been  keeping  your 
word,  Major  Mallett;  you  said  that  you  would  always 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  127 

be  the  same  to  me,  and  you  are  not;  you  have  never 
once  asked  me  to  dance  with  you,  and  you  are  changed 
altogether." 

"  I  try  to  be — I  try  hard,  Bertha;  but  just  at  pres- 
ent it  is  beyond  me.  I  cannot  stand  by  and  see  you  go- 
ing—  -"  and  he  stopped  abruptly.  "  Well,  never  mind, 
Bertha;  it  will  all  come  right  in  time,  but  at  any  rate 
I  cannot  stand  it  at  present.  Good-bye."  And  with- 
out giving  her  time  to  reply  he  hastily  left  the  room. 

Bertha  stood  silent  for  a  minute  or  two,  then  quietly 
followed  him  out  of  the  room. 

The  next  day  Hyde  was  astir  early.  It  was  the 
Queen's  Cup  day;  eight  yachts  were  entered:  three 
schooners — the  Rhodope,  the  Isobel,  and  the  May- 
flower ;  four  cutters — the  Pearl,  the  Chrysalis,  the  Alac- 
rity, and  the  Phantom;  and  the  Osprey,  which  was  the 
only  yawl.  It  was  half -past  eight,  and  all  were  under 
way  under  mainsail  and  jib.  The  Solent  was  alive 
with  yachts.  They  were  pouring  out  from  Southamp- 
ton water,  they  were  coming  up  from  Cowes,  and  some 
were  making  their  way  across  from  Portsmouth.  The 
day  was  a  fine  one  for  sailing. 

"  Have  you  got  the  same  extra  hands  as  last  time  ?  " 
Frank  asked  the  skipper. 

"  All  the  same,  sir ;  they  all  know  their  work  well, 
and  of  course  if  there  is  anything  to  be  done  aloft, 
our  own  men  go  up.  I  don't  think  any  of  them  will 
beat  us  in  smartness." 

As  the  time  approached  for  the  start,  the  racers 
began  to  gather  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  starting- 
line  and  as  the  five  minutes  gun  fired,  the  topsails 
went  up  and  they  began  to  sail  backwards  and  forwards 
near  it.  As  the  Phantom  crossed  under  the  lee  of  the 
Osprey,  the  three  ladies  waved  their  handkerchiefs  to 
Frank,  who  took  off  his  cap. 

"  May  the  best  yacht  win,"  Bertha  called  out,  as 
the  vessels  flew  quickly  apart. 


128  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  We  could  not  want  a  better  day,  Gteorge,"  Frank 
said ;  "  we  can  carry  everything  comfortably,  and  there 
is  not  enough  wind  to  kick  up  much  of  a  sea.  As  far 
as  we  are  concerned,  I  would  rather  that  the  wind 
had  been  either  north  or  south,  so  that  we  could  have 
laid  our  course  all  round;  as  it  is,  we  shall  have  the 
wind  almost  dead  aft  till  we  are  round  the  Nab,  then 
we  shall  be  close-hauled,  with  perhaps  an  occasional 
tack  along  the  back  of  the  island,  then  free  again  back. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  cutters  have  a  pull  close- 
hauled.  I  fancy  with  this  wind  the  schooners  will  be 
out  of  it ;  though  if  it  had  been  a  reach  the  whole  way, 
they  would  have  had  a  good  chance.  Four  minutes  are 
gone." 

He  was  holding  his  watch  in  his  hand  and  after  a 
short  pause  called  out,  "  Five  seconds  gone."  The  Os- 
prey  had  a  good  position  at  present,  though,  with  the 
wind  aft,  this  was  of  comparatively  little  consequence. 
She  was  nearly  in  a  line  with  the  mark  boat  nearest 
to  the  shore,  and  some  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  it. 

"  Haul  in  the  main  sheet,"  Hawkins  said  quietly, 
and  the  men  stationed  there  hauled  on  the  rope  until 
he  said,  "  That  will  do,  we  must  not  go  too  fast." 

He  went  on,  turning  to  Frank,  who  had  just  called 
out,  "  Twenty  seconds  gone,"  "  I  think  that  we  shall 
about  do."  The  latter  nodded.  "A  bit  more,  lads," 
the  skipper  said  ten  seconds  later.  "  That  will  do." 

"Fifteen  seconds  more,"  Frank  said  presently. 

"  Slack  away  the  sheet,  slack  it  away  handsomely ; 
up  foresail,  that  is  it,"  shouted  the  skipper. 

As  the  boom  ran  out  and  the  foresail  went  up,  the 
Osprey  glided  on  with  accelerated  speed,  and  the  end 
of  the  bowsprit  was  but  a  few  yards  from  the  starting- 
line  when  the  gun  fired. 

"  Bravo,  good  start,"  Frank  said,  as  he  looked  round 
for  the  first  time. 

The  eight  yachts  were  all  within  a  length  of  each 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  129 

other,  and  a  cheer  broke  from  the  boats  around  as  they 
pped  on  their  way.  For  a  time  there  was  but  little  dif- 
ference between  them,  and  then  the  cutters  began  to 
shoAv  a  little  in  front.  Their  long  booms  gave  them 
an  advantage  over  the  schooners  and  the  yawl  when 
before  the  wind;  the  spinnaker  was  not  then  invented, 
and  the  wind  was  not  sufficiently  dead  aft  to  enable 
the  schooners  to  carry  their  mainsail  and  foresails, 
wing  and  wing,  or  for  the  yawl's  mizzen  to  help  her. 

As  they  passed  Sea-view  the  cutters  were  a  length 
ahead,  the  Phantom  having  a  slight  advantage  over  her 
sisters;  they  gained  no  further,  for  the  schooners  fell 
into  their  wake  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  do  so,  thus 
robbing  them  of  some  of  their  wind.  The  Osprey, 
having  the  inside  station,  kept  straight  on,  and  came 
up  with  the  cutters  as  they  were  abreast  of  the  end 
of  the  island.  All  were  travelling  very  fast  through 
the  water. 

"  We  shall  be  first  round  the  Nab,  sir,"  Hawkins 
said  in  delight ;  "  the  schooners  are  smothering  the 
cutters,  but  they  are  not  hurting  us." 

"  Give  her  plenty  of  room  when  we  get  there," 
Frank  said. 

The  skipper  nodded.  "  I  won't  risk  a  foul,  sir,  you 
may  be  sure." 

The  three  ladies  on  board  the  Phantom  were  seated 
on  foot-stools  under  the  weather  bulwark — although 
as  yet  the  yachts  were  travelling  on  an  almost  even 
keel.  Miss  Haverley  and  Lady  Olive  uttered  exclama- 
tions of  satisfaction  as  the  Phantom  slowly  drew  ahead 
of  the  others,  and  were  loud  in  their  disgust  as  they 
saw  the  effect  of  the  schooner's  sail  behind  them  on 
their  own  speed. 

"  I  don't  call  it  fair,"  the  former  said,  "  if  a  vessel 
cannot  sail  well  herself,  that  she  should  be  allowed  to 
damage  the  chances  of  others,  do  you,  Bertha  ? " 

"  I  don't  know ;  I  suppose  it  is  equally  fair  for  all, 


130  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

and  that  we  should  do  the  same  if  a  boat  had  got  ahead 
of  us.  Still,  it  is  very  tiresome,  but  it  is  just  as  bad 
for  the  other  cutters." 

"  Look  at  the  Osprey,"  Lady  Olive  said  soon  after- 
wards, "  she  is  coming  up  fast ;  you  see,  she  has  noth- 
ing behind  her;  I  do  believe  that  she  is  going  to 
pass  us." 

"  It  won't  make  much  difference,"  Carthew,  who 
was  standing  close  to  her,  said  confidently ;  "  the  race 
won't  really  begin  until  we  are  round  the  Nab,  and 
after  that  we  shan't  hamper  each  other.  I  am  quite 
content  with  the  way  that  we  are  going." 

The  Osprey  rounded  the  lightship  two  lengths 
ahead,  the  Phantom  came  next,  three  lengths  before 
the  Chrysalis,  and  the  others  followed  in  quick  suc- 
cession. The  sheets  were  hauled  in,  and  the  yachts 
were  able  to  lie  close-hauled  for  Ventnor.  The  three 
leading  boats  maintained  their  respective  places,  but 
drew  out  from  each  other,  and  when  they  passed  Vent- 
nor the  Osprey  was  some  five  lengths  ahead  of  the 
Phantom. 

"  Don't  be  downcast,  ladies,"  Carthew  said,  gaily, 
"  we  have  a  long  way  to  go  yet,  and  once  round  the 
point  we  shall  have  to  turn  till  we  pass  the  Needles." 

The  sea  was  now  getting  a  good  deal  rougher;  the 
wind  was  against  tide,  and  the  yachts  began  to  throw 
the  spray  over  the  bows.  Bertha  was  struck  with  the 
confidence  with  which  Carthew  had  spoken,  and 
watched  him  closely. 

"  We  shall  get  it  a  good  deal  worse  off  St.  Cather- 
ine's Head,"  he  went  on ;  "  there  is  a  race  there  even 
in  the  calmest  weather,  and  I  should  advise  you  to  get 
your  wraps  ready,  for  the  spray  will  be  flying  all  over 
her  when  we  get  into  it." 

They  were  now  working  tack  and  tack,  but  the 
Osprey  was  still  improving  her  position,  and  as  they 
neared  St.  Catherine's  Head  she  was  a  good  quarter 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  131 

of  a  mile  to  the  good.  Still  Carthew  maintained  his 
good  temper,  but  Bertha  could  see  that  it  was  with 
an  effort.  He  seemed  to  pay  but  little  attention  to 
the  sailing  of  the  Phantom,  but  kept  his  eyes  intently 
fixed  upon  the  Osprey. 

"  I  should  not  be  surprised  at  some  of  us  carrying 
away  a  spar  before  long,"  he  said ;  "  the  wind  is  fresh- 
ening, and  we  shall  have  to  shift  topsails  and  jibs,  I 
fancy." 

They  were  now  lying  far  over,  and  the  water  was 
two  or  three  planks  up  the  lee  deck.  Each  time  the 
cutter  went  about  the  ladies  carried  their  foot-stools 
up  to  windward,  when  the  vessel  was  for  a  moment 
on  an  even  keel;  when  there  they  were  obliged  to  sit 
with  one  hand  over  the  rail  to  prevent  themselves  from 
sliding  down  to  leeward  as  the  vessel  heeled. 

"  There  goes  the  Chrysalis's  topmast,"  the  skipper 
exclaimed  suddenly ;  "  that  does  for  her  chance.  I 
think  I  had  better  get  the  jib  header  ready  for  hoist- 
ing, Mr.  Carthew ;  the  spar  is  bending  like  a  whip." 

"  Yes,  I  think  you  had  better  get  it  up  at  once, 
captain;  it  is  no  use  running  any  risk." 

As  the  Phantom's  big  topsail  came  down,  the  Os- 
prey's  was  seen  to  flutter  and  then  to  descend. 

"  He  has  only  been  waiting  for  us,"  the  captain  said. 
Carthew  made  no  reply,  he  was  still  intently  watch- 
ing the  craft  ahead.  "  It  is  just  as  well  for  him,"  the 
captain  went  on,  "  he  will  be  in  the  race  directly." 
Bertha  was  still  watching  Carthew's  face.  Cheerful 
as  his  tones  were,  there  was  an  expression  of  anxiety  in 
it.  Three  minutes  later,  he  gave  an  exclamation  as 
of  relief,  and  a  shout  rose  from  the  men  forward.  Fol- 
lowing the  direction  of  his  eyes,  she  saw  the  bowsprit 
of  the  Osprey  swing  to  leeward  and  a  moment  later  her 
topmast  fall  over  her  side. 

"What  did  I  tell  you?"  Carthew  said,  exultingly; 
"  a  race  is  never  lost  till  it  is  won." 


132  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  Oh !  I  am  sorry,"  Bertha  said.  "  I  do  think  it  is 
hard  to  lose  a  race  by  an  accident." 

"Every  yacht  has  to  abide  by  its  own  accidents, 
Miss  Greendale;  and  carrying  away  a  spar  is  one  of 
the  accidents  one  counts  on.  If  it  were  not  for  that 
risk,  yachts  would  always  carry  on  too  long;  it  is  a 
matter  of  judgment  and  of  attention  to  gear.  The 
loss  of  a  spar  is  in  nine  times  out  of  ten  the  result 
either  of  rashness  or  of  inattention.  However,  I  am 
sorry  myself;  that  is  to  say,  I  would  prefer  winning 
the  cup  by  arriving  first  at  the  flag-boat.  However, 
I  am  certainly  not  disposed  to  grumble  at  Fortune  just 
at  present." 

"  I  should  think  not,  Mr.  Carthew,"  Lady  Olive 
said.  "I  am  sure  I  congratulate  you  very  heai-tily. 
Of  course,  I  have  seen  scores  of  races,  and  whenever 
there  is  any  wind  someone  is  always  sure  to  lose  a 
spar,  and  sometimes  two  or  three  will  do  so;  I  don't 
think  you  need  fear  any  of  the  boats  behind." 

"  K"o,  yet  I  don't  feel  quite  safe ;  I  have  no  fear  of 
any  of  the 'cutters,  but  once  round  the  Needles,  it  will 
be  a  broad  reach,  and  you  will  see  that  the  schooners 
will  come  up  fast,  and  I  have  to  allow  them  a  good 
bit  of  time.  However,  I  think  we  are  pretty  safe." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  Phantom  presently  came  along  close  to  the 
Osprey,  and  Carthew  shouted : 

"  Is  there  anything  that  I  can  do  for  you  ?  " 

"No,  thank  you,"  Frank  replied.  Then  Bertha 
called  out: 

"  I  am  so  sorry."  Frank  waved  his  hand  in  reply. 
The  men  were  all  busy  trying  to  get  the  wreckage 
alongside.  The  cross-trees  had  been  carried  away  by 
the  fall  of  the  top-mast,  and  her  deck  forward  was  lit- 
tered with  gear.  The  difficulty  was  greatly  increased 
by  the  heavy  sea  in  the  race. 

"As  soon  as  you  have  got  everything  on  board, 
Hawkins,  we  will  put  a  couple  of  reefs  in  the  mainsail. 
She  will  go  well  enough  under  that  and  the  foresail. 
If  the  mizzen  is  too  much  for  her,  we  can  take  it  off." 

It  was  nearly  half  an  hour  before  all  was  clear,  and 
the  last  of  the  yachts  in  the  race  had  passed  them  be- 
fore the  leeward  sheet  of  the  foresail  was  hauled  aft, 
and  the  Phantom  resumed  her  course.  As  soon  as  she 
did  so,  the  captain  came  aft  with  part  of  the  copper 
bar  of  the  bobstay. 

"  There  has  been  foul  play,  sir,"  he  said.  "  I 
thought  there  must  have  been,  for  I  could  not  imagine 
that  this  bar  would  have  broken  unless  there  had  been 
a  flaw  in  the  metal  or  it  had  been  tampered  with.  I 
unshackled  it  myself,  for  I  thought  it  was  better  that 
the  men  should  not  see  it  until  I  had  told  you  about  it." 

"  Quite  right,  Hawkins.  Yes,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  there  has  been  foul  play.  The  bar  has  been  sawn 

133 


134  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

three  quarters  of  the  way  through  with  a  fine  saw,  and, 
of  course,  it  went  as  soon  as  she  began  to  dip  her  bow- 
sprit well  into  it  in  the  race.  You  see,  whoever  has 
done  it  has  poured  some  acid  into  it,  and  darkened 
the  copper,  partly  perhaps  to  prevent  the  colour  of  the 
freshly-cut  metal  from  being  noticed,  and  partly  to 
give  it  the  appearance,  after  it  was  broken,  of  being 
an  old  cut." 

"  It  cannot  have  been  that,  sir,  for  we  were  out  in 
quite  as  rough  a  sea  as  this  last  week,  and  the  bow- 
sprit would  have  gone  then  if  this  cut  had  been  there. 
Besides,  we  should  have  been  sure  to  have  noticed  it 
when  we  went  round  her  to  polish  up  her  sides." 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,  Hawkins.  You  see,  the 
cut  is  from  below,  and  it  is  only  two  or  three  inches 
above  the  water-line.  It  might  very  well  have  been 
there  without  being  noticed.  Still,  I  agree  with  you, 
it  could  not  have  been  there  last  week,  or  it  must  have 
gone  when  she  put  her  nose  into  it  then.  In  point  of 
fact,  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  was  done  last  night  or 
the  night  before.  It  could  easily  have  been  managed. 
Of  course,  everyone  was  below,  both  here  and  in  the 
yachts  lying  round  us,  and  a  man  might  very  well  have 
come  out  in  a  small  boat  between  one  and  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  done  this  without  being  noticed." 

"  He  might  have  done  that,  sir,  but  we  should  have 
heard  the  grating  down  in  the  forecastle." 

"  I  don't  know,  Hawkins.  A  fine  steel  saw,  such 
as  burglars  use,  will  work  its  way  through  an  iron  bar 
almost  noiselessly,  and  I  should  say  that  it  would  go 
through  copper  almost  as  easily  as  it  would  through 
hard  wood.  It  is  as  well  to  say  nothing  to  the  crew 
about  it,  but  I  think  it  my  duty  to  lay  the  matter 
before  the  club  committee,  and  they  can  do  as  they 
like  about  it.  Mind,  I  don't  say  for  a  moment  that  it 
was  done  by  anyone  on  board  the  Phantom.  It  may 
have  been  someone  on  shore  who  had  laid  a  bet  of  a 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  135 

few  pounds  against  us,  and  wanted  to  make  sure  of 
winning  his  money.  Besides,  the  Phantom  might  very 
well  have  hoped  to  have  beaten  us  fairly,  for  she  was 
just  as  much  fancied  as  we  were.  Take  it  below,  and 
lay  it  in  my  cabin,  and  when  we  get  in  unshackle  the 
other  bit  of  the  bar,  and  put  it  with  this." 

It  was  impossible,  however,  when  the  bowsprit  and 
bobstay  were  brought  on  board  that  the  crew  should 
have  failed  to  notice  the  break  in  the  bar,  and  the  news 
that  there  had  been  foul  play  had  at  once  been  passed 
round.  Seeing  the  angry  faces  of  the  men,  and  the 
animated  talk  forward,  Frank  told  the  captain  to  call 
all  hands  aft. 

"  Look  here,  my  men,"  he  said,  "  I  see  that  you  are 
all  aware  of  what  has  taken  place.  It  is  most  disgrace- 
ful and  unfortunate,  and  I  need  hardly  say  that  I  am 
as  much  vexed  as  yourselves  at  losing  the  Cup,  which, 
but  for  that,  we  must  have  carried  off.  However,  it  is 
one  of  those  cases  in  which  there  is  nothing  to  be  done, 
and  we  should  only  make  things  worse  by  making  a 
fuss  about  it.  We  have  no  ground  whatever  for  be- 
lieving that  it  was  the  work  of  one  of  the  Phantom's 
crew,  and  it  is  far  more  likely  that  it  was  the  work 
of  some  longshore  loafer  who  had  laid  more  than  he 
could  afford  against  us.  It  has  partly  been  our  own 
fault,  but  we  shall  know  better  in  future,  and  your 
captain  will  take  good  care  that  there  shall  be  an  an- 
chor watch  set  for  two  or  three  nights  before  we  sail 
another  race. 

"  What  I  have  called  you  up  for  is  to  beg  of  you 
not  to  make  this  an  occasion  for  disputes  or  quarrels 
ashore.  Hitherto  I  have  been  proud  of  the  good  be- 
haviour of  my  crew,  and  I  should  be  sorry  indeed  to 
hear  that  there  was  any  row  ashore  between  you  and 
the  Phantom's  men.  They  at  least  have  nothing  to 
boast  of;  they  have  won  the  Cup,  but  we  have  won  the 
honour.  We  have  shown  ourselves  the  better  yacht, 


136  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

and  should  have  beaten  them  by  something  like  a  mile, 
if  it  had  not  been  for  this  accident ;  therefore  it  is  my 
express  wish  and  order  that  you  do  not  show  your 
natural  disappointment  on  shore.  You  can  give  the 
real  reason  of  our  defeat,  but  do  not  say  a  word  of 
blame  to  anyone,  for  we  know  not  who  was  the  author 
of  the  blackguardly  act.  Of  course,  the  matter  cannot 
be  kept  altogether  a  secret,  for  it  will  be  my  duty  to  lay 
it  before  the  committee.  I  shall  make  no  protest.  If 
they  choose  to  institute  an  inquiry  they  must  do  so, 
but  I  shall  take  no  steps  in  the  matter,  and  it  is  un- 
likely in  the  extreme  that  we  shall  ever  know  who  did 
it.  I  shall  pay  you  all  winning  money,  for  that  you  did 
not  win  was  no  fault  of  yours.  One  thing  I  will  wager, 
though  I  am  not  a  betting  man,  and  that  is,  that  the 
next  time  we  meet  the  Phantom  we  shall  beat  her,  by 
as  much  as  we  should  have  done  to-day,  but  for  this 
accident." 

The  appearance  of  the  Osprey  as  she  sailed  into 
the  anchorage  without  topmast  or  bowsprit,  excited 
great  attention,  and  many  of  the  yachtsmen  came  on 
board  to  inquire  how  the  disaster  had  happened.  To 
save  going  through  the  story  a  score  of  times,  Frank 
had  the  broken  pieces  of  the  bobstay  bar  brought  up 
and  laid  on  the  deck  near  the  tiller,  and  in  reply  to 
inquiries  simply  pointed  to  them,  saying,  "  I  think 
that  tells  the  tale  for  itself." 

All  were  full  of  indignation  at  the  dastardly  outrage. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do,  Major  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  going  to  do  anything  except  take  it 
ashore  and  hand  it  to  the  Sailing  Committee.  That 
it  has  been  cut  is  certain ;  as  to  who  cut  it  there  is  no 
shadow  of  evidence." 

"  If  I  were  in  Carthew's  place,"  one  of  them  said, 
"  I  should  decline  to  take  the  Cup  under  such  circum- 
stances, and  would  offer  to  sail  the  race  over  again 
with  you  as  soon  as  you  had  repaired  damages." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  137 

"  I  should  decline  the  offer  if  he  made  it,"  he  said, 
quietly;  "it  is  probable  that  we  shall  meet  in  a  race 
again  some  day,  and  then  we  can  fight  it  out,  but  for 
the  present  it  is  done  with.  He  has  won  the  Queen's 
Cup,  and  I  must  put  up  with  my  accidents." 

The  effect  produced  by  the  facts  reported  to  the 
committee,  and  their  examination  of  the  broken  bar, 
was  very  great.  Such  a  thing  had  not  been  known 
before  in  the  annals  of  yachting,  and  the  commit- 
tee ordered  a  poster  to  be  instantly  printed  and  stuck 
up  offering  a  reward  of  £100  for  proof  that  would 
lead  to  the  conviction  of  the  author  of  the  out- 
rage. 

Frank  returned  on  board  at  once,  and  sent  off  a 
boat,  towing  behind  it  the  broken  bowsprit  and  top- 
mast to  Cowes,  with  instructions  to  Messrs.  White  to 
have  two  fresh  spars  got  ready  by  the  following  after- 
noon if  possible.  He  did  not  go  ashore  again  until 
he  landed  at  half-past  ten  at  the  club-house.  Every 
window  was  lit  up,  and  dancing  had  begun  an  hour 
before.  Frank  at  once  obtained  a  partner,  in  order  to 
avoid  having  to  talk  the  unpleasant  business^  over  with 
yachting  friends.  Presently  he  sat  down  by  the  side 
of  Lady  Greendale. 

"  I  am  so  sorry,  Frank,"  she  said ;  "  it  does  seem 
hard  when  you  had  set  your  mind  on  it." 

"  I  had  hoped  to  win,"  he  said,  "  but  it  is  not  as 
bad  as  all  that  after  all.  It  would  have  been  more 
mortifying  to  lose  because  the  Osprey  was  not  fast 
enough  than  to  lose  from  an  accident,  when  she  had 
already*  proved  herself  to  be  the  best  in  the  race.  You 
know  that  I  never  went  in  for  being  a  racing  yachts- 
man; I  look  upon  racing  as  being  a  secondary  part 
of  yachting.  I  can  assure  you  I  don't  feel  that  I  am 
greatly  to  be  pitied.  It  might  have  been  better,  and 
it  might  have  been  a  great  deal  worse." 

"  Well,  I  am  glad  that  you  take  it  in  that  way,"  she 


138  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

said ;  "  I  can  assure  you  that  I  was  greatly  upset  over 
it  when  I  heard  it." 

He  sat  chatting  with  her  for  some  time.  Presently 
Bertha  was  brought  back  by  her  partner  to  her  moth- 
er's side. 

"  Thank  you  for  your  hail  as  you  passed  us,  Miss 
Greendale;  it  sounded  hearty,  and  really  cheered  me 
up,  for  just  at  the  moment  I  was  in  an  exceedingly 
bad  temper,  I  can  assure  you.  You  see,  my  forebod- 
ings came  true,  and  luck  was  against  me." 

"  Not  luck,"  she  said,  indignantly ;  "  you  would 
have  won  but  for  treachery." 

"  Treachery  is  rather  a  hard  word,"  he  said.  "  How- 
ever, it  is  of  no  use  crying  over  spilt  milk;  I  have  lost, 
and  shall  live  to  fight  another  day,  I  hope;  and  next 
time  I  shall  win.  Still,  you  know,  there  is  really  noth- 
ing to  grumble  at;  I  have  been  fortunate  altogether 
this  season,  and  as  I  bought  the  Osprey  as  a  cruiser, 
I  have  done  a  great  deal  better  with  her  than  I  could 
have  expected." 

At  this  moment  another  partner  of  Bertha's  came 
up,  and  was  about  to  carry  her  off,  when  she  said,  "  I 
suppose  the  Osprey  can  sail  still,  Major  Mallett?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  she  is  a  lame  duck,  you  know,  but  she  can 
get  about  all  right." 

"  Well,  why  don't  you  ask  mamma  and  me  to  take 
a  sail  with  you  to-morrow  afternoon  ?  " 

"  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  do  so,"  he  said,  "  but  I 
almost  think  that  you  had  better  wait  until  she  gets 
her  spars;  I  don't  think  that  they  will  be  finished  be- 
fore to-morrow  evening.  The  men  can  get  to  work 
early  in  the  morning,  and  we  can  be  here  by  two  o'clock 
next  day." 

"No,  I  think  that  we  will  come  to-morrow,  Major 
Mallett;  it  will  be  a  novelty  to  sail  in  a  cripple,  won't 
it,  mamma  ?  Besides,  you  know,  or  you  ought  to  know, 
that  the  day  after  to-morrow  is  Sunday,  and  that  at 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  139 

present  our  plans  are  arranged  for  going  up  to  town 
on  Monday." 

"  That  being  so,"  Frank  said  with  a  smile,  "  by  all 
means  come  to-morrow.  Will  you  come  to  lunch  or 
afterwards  ? " 

"  Afterwards,  I  think ;  we  will  be  down  at  the  club 
landing-stage  at  half -past  two." 

"  Bertha  is  bent  upon  taking  possession  of  you  to- 
morrow," Lady  Greendale  said,  smiling,  as  the  girl 
turned  away,  "  and  I  shall  be  glad  for  her  to  have  a 
quiet  two  or  three  hours  out  of  the  racket.  A  large 
party  is  very  fatiguing,  and  I  think  that  it  has  been 
too  much  for  her.  Yesterday  and  to-day  she  has  been 
quite  unlike  herself;  at  one  time  sitting  quiet  and 
saying  nothing,  at  other  times  rattling  away  with  Miss 
Haverley  and  Lady  Olive,  and  absolutely  talking  down 
both  of  them,  which  I  should  have  thought  impossible. 
She  seems  to  me  to  be  altogether  overexcited.  I  thought 
it  would  have  been  a  rest  for  her  to  get  away  for  a 
week  from  the  fag  in  London,  but  I  am  sorry  now 
that  we  came  down  altogether.  I  am  a  little  worried 
about  it,  Frank."  * 

"  Well,  the  season  is  drawing  towards  its  end  now, 
Lady  Greendale,  and  if  you  can  get  a  short  time  at 
home  no  doubt  it  will  do  you  good.  I  did  not  think 
that  Bertha  was  looking  well  when  I  saw  her  yester- 
day." 

Frank  danced  a  couple  more  dances,  and  then  went 
to  Lady  Greendale  and  said: 

"  Will  you  make  my  excuses  to  Bertha,  and  tell 
her  that,  having  shown  myself  here,  so  that  it  might 
not  be  thought  that  I  was  out  of  temper  at  my  bad 
luck,  I  shall  be  off.  Indeed,  I  do  not  feel  quite  up  to 
entering  into  the  thing.  You  can  understand,  dear 
Lady  Greendale,  that  at  present  things  are  going  rather 
hardly  with  me." 

She  gave  him  a  sympathetic  look.    "I  can  under- 


140  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

stand,  Frank,"  she  said ;  "  but  here  she  comes.  You 
can  make  your  excuses  yourself." 

"  I  can  quite  understand  that  you  don't  care  about 
staying,"  Bertha  said,  when  he  repeated  what  he  had 
said  to  her  mother.  "  Well,  I  will  give  you  the  next 
dance,  or,  what  will  be  nicer,  I  will  sit  it  out  with 
you.  Ah,  here  is  my  partner.  I  am  afraid  I  have 
made  a  mistake,  Mr.  Jennings,  and  have  got  my  card 
mixed  up.  Do  you  mind  taking  the  thirteenth  dance 
instead  of  this?  I  shall  be  very  much  obliged  if  you 
will." 

Her  partner  murmured  his  assent. 

"  Thank  you,"  Frank  said,  as  she  took  his  arm. 
"  Now,  shall  we  go  out  on  the  balcony  or  on  the  lawn  ?  " 

"  The  lawn,  I  think.  It  is  a  lovely  evening,  and 
there  is  no  fear  of  catching  cold.  I  am  afraid  that 
you  are  very  disappointed,"  she  went  on,  as  they  went 
out.  "I  am  disappointed,  too.  I  told  you  I  wanted 
the  best  yacht  to  win,  and  it  has  not  done  so." 

"  Thank  you,"  he  replied,  quietly.  "  I  should  have 
liked  to  have  won  just  this  once,  but  all  along  I  felt 
that  the  chances  were  against  me,  and  that  fortune 
would  play  me  some  trick  or  other." 

"  It  was  not  fortune.  Fortune  had  nothing  to  do 
with  it,"  she  said,  indignantly.  "  You  were  beaten  by 
a  crime — by  a  mean,  miserable  crime — by  the  same 
sort  of  crime  by  which  you  were  beaten  before." 

"  I  have  no  reason  for  supposing  that  there  is  any 
connection." 

"  Frank,"  she  broke  in,  suddenly,  and  he  started 
as  for  the  first  time  for  years  she  called  him  by  his 
Christian  name,  "you  are  an  old  friend  of  ours,  and 
you  promised  me  that  you  would  always  be  my  friend. 
Do  you  think  that  it  is  right  to  be  trying  to  throw 
dust  into  my  eyes?  Don't  you  thihk,  on  the  contrary, 
that  as  a  friend  you  should  speak  frankly  to  me?" 

Frank  was  silent  for  a  moment.     "  On  some  sub- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  141 

jects,  yes,  Bertha;  on  others,  what  has  passed  between 
us  makes  it  very  difficult  for  a  man  to  know  what  he 
ought  to  do.  But  be  assured  that  if  I  saw  you  make 
any  fatal  mistake,  any  mistake  at  least  that  I  believed 
to  be  fatal,  I  should  not  hesitate,  even  if  I  knew  that 
I  should  be  misunderstood,  and  that  I  should  forfeit 
your  liking,  by  so  doing.  This  is  just  one  of  the  cases 
when  I  do  not  feel  justified,  as  yet,  in  speaking.  Car- 
thew  is  not  my  friend,  and  you  know  it.  If  I  had  had 
no  personal  feud — for  it  has  become  that  with  him — 
I  should  be  more  at  liberty  to  speak,  but  as  it  is  I 
would  rather  remain  silent.  I  tell  you  this  now,  that 
you  may  know,  in  case  I  ever  do  meddle  in  your  af- 
fairs, how  painful  it  is  for  me  to  do  so,  and  how  un- 
willingly I  do  it.  At  any  rate,  there  is  nothing  what- 
ever to  connect  the  accident  that  took  place  to-day  with 
him.  The  event  is  one  of  a  series  of  successes  that 
he  has  gained  over  me.  It  does  not  affect  me  much, 
for  though  I  should  have  liked  to  have  won  to-day,  I 
don't  feel  about  such  matters  as  I  used  to.  You  see, 
when  a  man  has  suffered  one  heavy  defeat,  he  does  not 
care  about  how  minor  skirmishes  may  go." 

They  walked  up  and  down  in  silence  for  some  time, 
then  she  said  quietly :  "  The  music  has  stopped ;  I 
think,  Frank,  that  I  had  better  go  in  again.  So  you 
will  take  us  to-morrow  ?  " 

"  Certainly,"  he  said. 

He  took  her  in  to  Lady  Greendale,  and  then  went 
off  to  the  Osprey.  He  was  feeling  in  higher  spirits 
than  he  had  done  for  some  time  as  he  walked  up  and 
down  the  deck  for  an  hour  before  turning  in.  It 
seemed  to  him  that  she  might  not  after  all  accept  Car- 
thew,  and  that  he  would  not  be  obliged  to  bring  trou- 
ble upon  her  by  telling  the  shameful  story. 

"  It  will  be  all  the  same  as  far  as  I  am  concerned," 
he  said  to  himself,  "but  I  am  sure  that  I  could  stand 
her  marrying  anyone  else,  which,  of  course,  she  will 
10 


142  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

do  before  long,  better  than  Carthew.  I  hear  whispers 
that  he  was  hard  hit  at  Ascot,  though  he  gives  out 
that  he  won;  not  that  that  matters  much,  but  it  is 
never  a  good  lookout  for  a  girl  to  marry  a  man  who 
gambles,  even  though  she  be  rich  and  her  friends  take 
good  care  to  settle  her  money  upon  herself.  She  evi- 
dently suspects  that  he  is  at  the  bottom  of  this  trick, 
and  she  would  hardly  think  so  if  she  really  cared  for 
him.  But  if  she  does  think  so,  I  fancy  that  the  win- 
ning of  the  Queen's  Cup  will  cost  him  dearly.  I  won- 
der why  she  has  apparently  so  set  her  mind  on  going 
out  with  us  to-morrow." 

Carthew  enjoyed  his  triumph  that  evening,  loudly 
expressed  his  indignation  and  regret  at  the  scandal- 
ous affair  to  which  he  owed  his  victory,  frankly  said 
that  he  could  hardly  have  hoped  to  win  the  Cup  had 
it  not  been  for  that,  and  expressed  his  determination  to 
add  another  hundred  pounds  to  the  reward  offered  by 
the  club  for  the  discovery  of  the  author  of  the  outrage. 
The  men  felt  that  it  was  hard  on  a  fellow  to  win  the 
Cup  by  the  breakdown  of  an  opponent  in  that  way,  and 
the  ladies  admired  the  sincere  way  in  which  he  ex- 
pressed his  regrets.  He  was  a  good  dancer,  a  good 
talker,  and  a  handsome  man ;  and  as  few  of  them  knew 
Frank,  they  had  no  particular  interest  in  his  mis- 
fortune. He  danced  only  once  with  Bertha,  who 
said,  "  As  the  hero  of  the  occasion,  Mr.  Carthew,  you 
must  be  generous  in  vour  attentions  and  please  every- 
one." 

"  I  suppose  I  must  obey  you,  Miss  Greendale,"  he 
said,  "but  I  had  hoped  to  have  had  an  opportunity 
of  saying  something  particular  to  you  to-night." 

"  Really  ?  "  she  answered  innocently ;  "  well,  I  shall 
be  at  home  to-morrow  morning,  and  if  you  come  up 
about  eleven  you  are  sure  to  find  me." 

"  Miss  Greendale  is  at  the  other  end  of  the  garden, 
sir,"  the  servant  said,  as  he  enquired  for  her  the  next 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  143, 

morning.  "  She  asked  me  to  tell  you  if  you  called 
that  she  was  there." 

With  considerable  assurance  of  success,  Carthew 
walked  into  the  garden.  She  must  know  what  he 
wanted  to  say  to  her,  and  he  had  of  late  felt  sure  that 
her  answer  would  be  favourable  when  the  question  was 
put.  She  was  sitting  on  the  same  bench  on  which  two 
days  before  she  had  heard  George  Lechmere's  story. 

"  You  know  what  I  have  come  for,  Miss  Green- 
dale,"  he  began  at  once.  "  I  think  that  you  know  how 
I  feel  towards  you,  and  how  deeply  I  love  you;  I  have 
come  to  ask  you  to  be  my  wife." 

"  Before  I  answer  you,  Mr.  Carthew,"  she  said, 
calmly,  "  I  must  ask  you  to  listen  to  a  story;  it  was 
told  me  here  two  days  ago  by  a  man  named  George 
Lechmere.  Do  you  know  him  ?  " 

"  I  seem  to  have  heard  his  name,  though  I  cannot 
say  where,"  he  replied,  surprised  at  the  coolness  with 
which  she  spoke. 

"  He  is  a  farmer's  son,  I  believe,  and  he  was  an 
interested  party,  though  not  the  chief  actor  of  the 
story.  The  chief  actor,  I  suppose  I  should  say  actress, 
was  Martha  Bennett.  You  know  her  ?  " 

Carthew  stepped  back  as  if  he  had  received  a  sud- 
den blow;  his  face  paled,  and  he  gave  a  short  gasp. 

"  I  see  you  know  her,"  she  went  on.  "  She  was 
a  poor  creature,  I  fancy,  and  her  story  is  one  that  has 
often  been  told  before.  She  threw  away  the  love  of 
an  honest  man,  and  trusted  herself  to  a  villain;  he 
betrayed  the  trust,  took  her  away  to  America  and  then 
cast  her  off,  and  she  went  home  to  die.  Her  destroyer 
did  not  altogether  escape  punishment.  He  was  at- 
tacked and  pelted  by  her  father  and  his  friends  in 
the  market  place  at  Chippenham.  You  see,  it  all  hap- 
pened in  my  neighbourhood,  and  the  villain,  not  dar- 
ing to  show  his  face  in  the  county  again,  disposed  of 
his  estate." 


144  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  You  don't  believe  this  infamous  lie  ? "  Carthew 
said,  hoarsely. 

"  How  do  you  know  that  it  is  an  infamous  lie,  Mr. 
Carthew?  I  have  mentioned  no  names;  I  have  simply 
told  you  the  story  of  a  hapless  girl,  whom  you  once 
knew;  your  face  is  the  best  witness  that  I  can  require 
of  its  truth.  Thank  God  I  heard  it  in  time;  had  it 
not  been  for  that  I  might  have  been  fool  enough  to 
have  given  you  the  answer  you  wanted,  for  I  own  that 
I  liked  you.  I  am  sure  now  that  I  did  not  love  you, 
for  had  I  done  so,  I  should  not  have  believed  this  tale; 
or  if  I  had  believed  it,  it  would  have  crushed  me.  But 
I  liked  you;  I  found  you  pleasanter  than  other  men, 
and  I  even  fancied  that  I  loved  you.  Had  I  not  known 
this  story,  I  might  have  married  you,  and  been  the 
most  miserable  woman  alive,  for  a  man  who  could  play 
the  villain  to  a  hapless  girl,  who  could  stoop  to  so 
mean  and  dastardly  an  action  as  to  cripple  a  rival 
yacht,  is  a  creature  so  mean,  so  detestable,  that 
wretched  indeed  would  be  the  fate  of  the  woman  that 
married  him.  Do  not  contradict  it,  sir,"  she  said,  ris- 
ing from  her  seat  now  with  her  face  ablaze  with  indig- 
nation. "  I  was  watching  you ;  I  had  heard  that  story, 
and  had  heard  another  story  of  how  the  boat  of  an  an- 
tagonist of  yours  at  Henley  had  been  crippled  before 
a  race,  and  I  watched  you  from  the  time  I  came  on 
board.  I  saw  that  you  were  strangely  confident;  I  saw 
how  you  were  watching  for  something;  I  saw  the  flash 
of  triumph  in  your  face  when  that  something  hap- 
pened, and  I  was  absolutely  certain  that  the  same 
base  manoeuvre  that  had  won  you  your  heat  at  Henley 
had  been  repeated  in  your  race  for  the  Queen's  Cup. 
I  don't  think,  sir,  you  will  want  any  more  specific 
answer  to  your  question." 

"  You  will  repent  this,"  he  panted,  his  face  dis- 
torted by  a  raging  disappointment.  "  I  do  not  con- 
tradict your  statements;  it  would  be  beneath  me  to 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  145 

do  so;  but  some  day  you  may  have  cause  to  regret 
having  made  them." 

"  I  may  tell  you,"  she  said,  as  she  turned,  "  that 
it  is  not  my  intention  to  make  public  the  knowledge 
that  I  gained  of  your  conduct  yesterday.  I  have  no 
proof  save  my  own  absolute  conviction  and  the  knowl- 
edge that  I  have  of  your  past." 

He  did  not  look  round,  but  walked  at  a  rapid  pace 
down  the  garden. 

Half  an  hour  later  the  Phantom's  anchor  was  got 
up,  and  she  sailed  for  Southampton  Water.  Beyond 
giving  the  necessary  order  to  get  under  way,  Carthew 
did  not  speak  a  word  until  she  anchored  off  the  pier, 
then  he  went  ashore  at  once  and  took  the  next  train 
for  town,  sending  off  a  telegram  before  starting.  When 
he  got  home  he  asked  the  servant  briefly  if  Mr.  Conk- 
ling  had  come. 

"  Yes,  sir ;  he  is  waiting  for  you  in  the  dining- 
room." 

"  Well,  Carthew,  how  have  things  gone  off  ?  I  see 
by  the  papers  this  morning  that  you  won  the  Cup,  and 
also  that  the  Osprey's  bobstay  burst  at  the  right  time, 
and  that  a  great  sensation  had  been  caused  by  the  dis- 
covery that  there  had  been  foul  play.  Why,  what  is 
the  matter  with  you?  You  look  as  black  as  a  thunder- 
cloud." 

"  And  no  wonder ;  I  won  the  race,  but  I  have  lost 
the  girl." 

"  The  deuce  you  have.  Why,  I  thought  that  you 
felt  quite  certain  of  that." 

"  So  I  did ;  and  it  would  have  come  off  all  right 
if  some  infernal  fellow  had  not  turned  up  and  told 
her  about  an  old  affair  of  mine  that  I  thought  buried 
and  forgotten  three  or  four  years  ago,  and  it  took  me 
so  aback  that,  as  she  said,  my  face  was  the  best  evi- 
dence of  the  truth  of  the  story.  More  than  that,  she 
declared  that  she  knew  that  I  was  at  the  bottom  of  the 


146  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

Osprey's  business.  However,  she  has  no  evidence  about 
that;  but  the  other  story  did  the  business  for  me,  and 
the  game  is  all  up  in  that  quarter.  There  never  was 
such  bad  luck;  she  as  much  as  told  me  that,  if  I  had 
proposed  to  her  before  she  had  heard  the  story,  she 
would  have  said  yes." 

"  No  chance  of  her  changing  her  mind  ?  " 

"  Not  a  scrap." 

"  It  is  an  awkward  affair  for  you." 

"  Horribly  awkward.  Yes,  I  have  only  got  fifteen 
thousand  left,  and  unless  things  go  right  at  Goodwood 
I  shall  be  cleaned  right  out.  I  calculated  that  every- 
thing would  be  set  right  if  I  married  this  girl;  things 
have  gone  badly  of  late." 

"  Yes,  your  luck  has  been  something  awful ;  it  did 
seem  that  with  the  pains  that  we  took,  and  the  way  I 
cleared  the  ground  for  you  by  bribing  jockeys  and  so 
on,  we  ought  to  have  made  pots  of  money.  Of  course, 
we  did  pull  off  some  good  things,  but  others  we  looked 
on  as  safe  and  went  in  for  heavily  all  turned  out 
wrong." 

"  Well,  there  will  be  nothing  for  me  but  to  get 
across  the  Channel  unless,  as  I  say,  things  go  right  at 
Goodwood." 

"  I  should  not  be  nervous  about  it,  for  unless  there 
is  some  dark  horse  I  feel  sure  that  your  Rosney  has 
got  the  race  in  hand." 

"Yes,  I  feel  sure  of  that,  too;  we  have  kept  him 
well  back  all  the  season,  and  never  let  him  even  get  a 
place;  it  ought  to  be  a  certainty." 

Then  they  sat  some  time  smoking  in  silence. 

"  By  gad,  I  have  half  a  mind  to  carry  -her  off,"  Car- 
thew  broke  out,  suddenly ;  "  it  is  the  only  way  that  I 
can  see  of  getting  things  straightened  out.  She  ac- 
knowledged that  she  liked  me  before  she  heard  this  ac- 
cursed story,  and  if  I  had  her  to  myself  I  have  no  doubt 
that  I  could  make  her  like  me  again  in  spite  of  it." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  147 

"  It  is  a  risky  thing  to  carry  a  woman  off  in  our 
days,"  Conkling  said,  thoughtfully,  "  and  a  deuced 
difficult  one  to  do.  I  don't  see  how  you  are  going  to 
set  about  it,  or  what  in  the  world  you  would  do  with 
her,  and  where  you  would  put  her  when  you  had  got 
her.  I  have  done  some  pretty  risky  things  for  you  in 
my  time,  Carthew,  but  I  should  not  care  about  try- 
ing that.  We  might  both  find  ourselves  in  for  seven, 
years." 

"  Well,  you  would  have  as  much  as  that  for  getting 
at  a  horse,  and  I  don't  know  that  you  .wouldn't  for 
bribing  a  jockey.  Still,  I  see  that  it  is  an  uncommonly 
difficult  thing." 

For  five  minutes  nothing  more  was  said;  then 
Conkling  suddenly  broke  the  silence. 

"  By  Jove,  I  should  say  that  the  yacht  would  be  just 
the  thing." 

"  That  is  a  good  idea,  Jim ;  a  first-rate  idea  if  it 
could  be  worked  out.  It  would  want  a  lot  of  scheming, 
but  I  don't  see  why  it  should  not  be  done.  If  I  could 
once  get  her  on  board  I  could  cruise  about  with  her 
for  any  time  until  she  gave  in." 

"You  would  have  to  get  a  fresh  crew,  Carthew; 
I  doubt  whether  your  fellows  would  stand  it." 

"  No,  I  suppose  some  of  them  might  kick ;  at  any 
rate,  I  would  not  trust  them.  No,  I  should  have  to 
find  a  fresh  crew.  Foreigners  would  be  best,  but  it 
would  look  uncommonly  rum  for  the  Phantom  to  be 
cruising  about  with  a  foreign  crew.  Besides,  I  know 
men  in  almost  every  port  I  should  put  into." 

"  Couldn't  you  alter  her  rig  or  something  of  that 
sort,  so  that  she  could  not  be  recognised?  It  seems 
to  me  that  if  you  were  to  take  her  across  to  some  for- 
eign port,  pay  off  the  crew  there  and  send  them  home, 
then  get  her  altered  and  ship  a  foreign  crew,  you  might 
cruise  about  as  long  as  you  liked,  especially  abroad, 
without  a  soul  being  any  the  wiser;  and  the  girl  must 


148  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

sooner  or  later  give  in,  and  if  she  would  not  you  could 
make  her." 

"  That  is  a  big  idea,  Jim ;  yes,  if  I  once  got  my 
lady  on  board  you  may  be  sure  that  she  would  have 
to  say  yes  sooner  or  later.  I  don't  often  forgive,  and 
it  would  be  a  triumph  to  make  her  pay  for  the  dressing 
down  she  gave  me  this  morning.  Besides,  I  am  really 
fond  of  her,  and  I  could  forgive  her  for  that  outbreak, 
which  I  suppose  was  natural  enough,  after  we  were 
married,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  get 
on  very  well  together.  I  tell  you  what,  I  will  go  down 
the  first  thing  to-morrow  to  Southampton,  and  will 
sail  at  once  for  Ostend;  there  I  will  pay  her  off,  alter 
her  rig,  and  ship  a  fresh  crew.  I  will  draw  my  money 
from  the  bank.  If  things  go  well,  I  shall  be  set  up 
again;  if  they  go  badly,  there  will  be  some  long  faces 
at  Tattersall's  on  settling  day,  but  I  shall  be  away,  and 
the  money  will  be  enough  if  we  have  to  cruise  for  a 
•couple  of  years,  or  double  that,  before  she  gives  in.  I 
shall  try  mild  measures  for  a  good  bit ;  be  very  respect- 
ful and  repentant  and  all  that.  If  I  find  after  a  time 
that  that  does  not  fetch  her,  I  must  try  what  threats 
will  do.  Anyhow,  she  won't  leave  until  she  steps  on 
shore  to  be  married,  or  safer  still,  till  I  can  get  a 
clergyman  on  board  to  marry  us  there.  Would  you 
like  to  go  with  us  ?  " 

"  If  the  thing  bursts  up,  there  is  nothing  I  should 
like  better." 

"  You  will  have  to  help  me  carry  her  off,  Jim,  and 
the  day  that  she  signs  her  name  Bertha  Carthew  I  will 
give  you  a  couple  of  thousand  pounds." 

"  That  is  a  bargain,"  the  man  said.  "  It  is  a  good 
scheme  altogether,  if  we  can  hit  upon  some  plan  for 
carrying  her  away." 

"It  is  of  no  use  to  think  of  that  until  we  know 
where  she  will  be.  I  don't  see  at  present  how  it  is  to 
be  done,  but  I  know  that  there  is  always  a  way  if  one 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  149 

can  think  of  it.  You  telegraph  to  me  every  day  Poste 
Restante,  Ostend,  or  wherever  I  am  stopping;  I  will 
send  you  the  name  of  the  hotel  I  put  up  at  directly 
I  get  there.  You  had  better  send  someone  down  at  once 
to  Ryde  to  let  you  know  what  she  is  doing,  and  when 
she  comes  up  to  town ;  it  is  just  on  the  cards  that  they 
may  not  come  for  a  bit,  but  may  go  for  a  cruise  in  Mal- 
lett's  yacht,  as  they  did  last  autumn.  Anyhow,  let 
me  know,  and  if  I  telegraph  for  you  to  come  over, 
cross  by  the  next  boat.  Likely  enough  I  may  run  over 
myself  as  soon  as  I  get  the  business  there  going  all 
right;  but  of  course  I  shall  stay  there  if  I  can.  I 
should  get  it  done  in  half  the  time  if  I  were  present  to 
push  things  on.  Of  course,  you  will  run  down  and  see 
how  the  horse  is  getting  on  and  pick  up  any  informa- 
tion that  you  can,  and  let  me  know  about  it." 

"  I  will  put  that  into  good  hands,  Carthew ;  it  is 
better  that  I  should  stay  here  and  watch  things  at  Tat- 
tersall's;  then  I  can  keep  you  informed  how  things  are 
looking  every  day,  and  be  ready  to  start  as  soon  as  I 
get  your  telegram;  but,  of  course,  you  won't  do  any- 
thing until  after  the  race  is  run." 

"  No,  I  feel  as  safe  as  a  man  can  as  to  Rosney,  but 
even  if  he  wins  I  shall  carry  my  idea  out.  I  have  had 
enough  of  the  turf,  and  burnt  my  fingers  enough  over 
it,  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  settle  down  as  a  country  gen- 
tleman again.  If  I  lose  I  shall  make  a  private  sale 
of  all  my  horses  before  I  leave  the  course;  that  ought 
to  bring  me  in  another  seven  or  eight  thousand  pounds- 
for  our  trip." 


CHAPTEE  X. 

u  THERE  is  the  Phantom  getting  under  way,"  the 
akipper  said,  as  his  turn  up  and  down  the  deck  brought 
him  close  to  Frank. 

"  So  she  is ;  I  saw  her  owner  go  ashore  less  than  an 
hour  ago." 

"  Yes ;  he  came  on  board  again  five  minutes  ago. 
The  men  began  to  bustle  about  directly  he  got  on  deck. 
I  do  hope  they  won't  put  in  again  as  long  as  we  are 
here.  The  hands  are  as  savage  as  bulls,  and  though 
they  remembered  what  you  told  them  and  there  were 
no  rows  on  shore  last  night,  I  shall  be  glad  when  we 
ain't  in  the  same  port  with  the  Phantom,  for  I  am  sure 
that  if  two  or  three  men  of  each  crew  were  to  drop  in 
to  the  same  pub,  there  would  be  a  fight  in  no  time; 
and  really  I  could  not  blame  them;  it  is  not  in  human 
nature  to  lose  a  race  like  that  without  feeling  very 
gore  over  it.  I  hope  she  is  off.  Anyhow,  as  we  are 
going  to  Cowes  this  evening,  it  will  be  a  day  or  two 
before  the  hands  are  likely  to  run  against  each  other, 
and  that  will  give  them  time  to  cool  down  a  bit.  There 
is  one  thing,  I  bet  the  Phantom  won't  enter  against  us 
at  Cowes.  If  we  were  to  give  them  a  handsome  beat- 
ing there,  it  would  show  everyone  that  they  would  have 
had  no  chance  of  winning  the  Cup  if  it  had  not  been 
for  the  accident." 

"  No,   I   don't   suppose   that  we   shall   meet   again 

this  season,  and  indeed  I  don't  know  that  I  shall  do 

any  more  racing  myself,  except  that  I  shall  feel  it  as  a 

sort  of  duty  to  enter  for  the  Squadron's  open  race.    I 

150 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  151 

think  by  the  course  she  is  laying  that  the  Phantom 
is  off  to  Southampton.  Perhaps  she  is  going  to  meet 
somebody  there.  Anyhow,  she  is  not  likely  to  be  back 
until  we  have  started  for  Cowes." 

Frank  sat  for  some  time  with  the  paper  in  his  hand, 
but,  although  he  glanced  at  it  occasionally,  his  mind 
took  in  nothing  of  its  contents.  Again  and  again  he 
watched  the  Phantom.  Yes,  she  was  certainly  going 
to  Southampton  Water.  . 

From  what  Bertha  had  said  to  him  the  evening  be- 
fore, he  had  received  a  strong  hope  that  she  would 
reject  Carthew.  Nothing  was  more  probable  than  that 
he  should  have  gone  ashore  that  morning,  fresh  from 
his  victory,  to  put  the  question  to  her,  and  his  speedy 
return  and  his  order  to  make  sail  as  soon  as  he  got 
on  deck  certainly  pointed  to  the  fact  that  she  had  re- 
fused him. 

A  load  of  care  seemed  to  be  lifted  from  Frank's 
mind. 

From  the  first,  when  he  had  found  that  Carthew 
was  a  visitor  at  Lady  Greendale's,  he  had  been  uncom- 
fortable; he  knew  the  man's  persevering  nature,  and 
recognised  his  power  of  pleasing  when  he  desired  to 
do  so.  He  was  satisfied  that,  when  he  himself  was  re- 
fused, the  reason  Bertha  gave  him  was,  as  far  as  she 
knew,  the  true  one;  but  he  had  since  thought  that  pos- 
sibly she  might  then,  although  unsuspected  by  herself, 
have  been  to  some  extent  under  the  spell  of  CartheVs 
influence.  When  she  had  declined  two  unexceptional 
offers,  he  had  been  almost  convinced  that  Carthew, 
when  the  time  came,  would  receive  a  more  favourable 
answer.  But  he  had  watched  them  closely  on  the  few 
occasions  when  he  had  seen  them  together  in  society, 
and,  certain  as  he  had  felt  at  other  times,  he  had  come 
away  somewhat  puzzled,  and  said  to  himself :  "  She  is 
captivated  by  his  manner,  as  any  girl  might  be,  but  I 
doubt  whether  she  loves  him." 


152  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

This  impression,  however,  had  always  died  out  in  a 
short  time,  and  he  had  somehow  come  to  accept  the 
general  opinion  unquestioningly  that  she  would  accept 
Carthew  when  he  proposed.  He  had  been  prepared  to 
face  the  alternative  of  either  suffering  her  to  marry 
a  scoundrel  or  of  taking  a  step  more  repugnant  to  him, 
which  would  probably  end  by  an  entire  breach  of  his 
friendship  with  the  Greendales,  that  of  telling  them 
this  story.  He  was  therefore  delighted  to  find  that  the 
difficulty  had  been  solved  by  Bertha  herself  without 
his  intervention,  and  felt  absolutely  grateful  for  the 
accident  which  had  cost  him  the  Queen's  Cup,  but  had 
at  the  same  time  opened  Bertha's  eyes  to  the  man's 
true  character.  Soon  after  two  o'clock  he  went  ashore 
in  the  gig,  and  at  the  half-hour  Lady  Greendale  and 
Bertha  came  down. 

"  The  Osprey  looks  like  a  bird  shorn  of  its  wings," 
he  said,  as  he  handed  them  into  the  boat,  "  and  though 
the  men  have  made  everything  as  tidy  as  they  could, 
the  two  missing  spars  quite  spoil  her  appearance." 

"  That  does  not  matter  in  the  least,  Frank,"  Lady 
Greendale  said ;  "  we  know  how  she  looks  when  she 
is  at  her  best.  We  shall  enjoy  a  quiet  sail  in  her  just 
as  much  as  if  she  were  in  apple-pie  order." 

"  You  look  fagged,  Lady  Greendale,  though  you  are 
pretty  well  accustomed  to  gaiety  in  town." 

Lady  Greendale  did  indeed  look  worn  and  worried. 
For  the  last  two  or  three  days  Bertha's  manner  had 
puzzled  her  and  caused  her  some  vague  anxiety.  That 
morning  the  girl  had  come  in  from  the  garden  and 
told  her  that  she  had  just  refused  Mr.  Carthew,  and, 
although  she  had  never  been  pleased  at  the  idea  of 
Bertha's  marrying  him,  the  refusal  had  come  as  a 
shock.  Personally  she  liked  him.  She  believed  him 
to  be  very  well  off,  but  she  had  expected  Bertha  to  do 
much  better,  and  she  by  no  means  approved  of  his 
fondness  for  the  turf.  She  had  been  deeply  disap- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  153 

pointed  at  the  girl's  refusal  of  Lord  Chilson,  on  whom 
she  had  quite  set  her  mind.  The  second  offer  had  also 
been  a  good  one.  Still,  she  had  reconciled  herself  to 
the  thought  of  Bertha's  marrying  Carthew.  His  con- 
nection with  the  turf  had  certainly  brought  him  into 
contact  with  a  great  many  good  men,  he  was  to  be 
met  everywhere,  and  she  could  hardly  wonder  that 
Bertha  should  have  been  taken  with  his  good  looks 
and  the  brilliancy  of  his  conversation.  The  refusal, 
then,  came  to  her  not  only  as  an  absolute  surprise, 
but  as  a  shock. 

She  considered  that  Bertha  had  certainly  given 
him,  as  well  as  everyone  else,  reason  to  suppose  that 
she  intended  to  accept  him.  Many  of  her  intimate 
friends  had  spoken  to  her  as  if  the  affair  was  already 
a  settled  matter,  and  when  it  became  known  that 
Bertha  had  refused  him,  she  would  be  set  down  as  a 
flirt,  and  it  would  certainly  injure  her  prospects  of 
making  the  sort  of  match  that  she  desired.  She  had 
said  something  of  all  this  to  the  girl,  and  had  only 
received  the  reply :  "  I  know  what  I  am  doing,  mamma ; 
I  can  understand  that  you  thought  I  was  going  to 
marry  him.  I  thought  so  myself,  but  something  has 
happened  that  has  opened  my  eyes,  and  I  have  every 
reason  to  be  thankful  that  it  has.  I  dare  say  you  think 
that  I  have  behaved  very  badly,  and  I  am  sorry;  but 
I  am  sure  that  I  am  doing  right  now." 

"  What  have  you  discovered,  Bertha  ?  I  don't  un- 
derstand you  at  all." 

"  I  don't  suppose  you  do,  mamma.  I  cannot  tell  you 
what  it  is;  I  told  him  that  I  would  not  tell  anybody." 

"  But  you  don't  seem  to  mind,  Bertha ;  that  is  what 
puzzles  me.  A  girl  who  has  made  up  her  mind  to  ac- 
cept a  man,  and  who  finds  out  something  that  seems 
to  her  so  bad  that  she  rejects  him,  would  naturally 
be  distressed  and  upset.  You  seem  to  treat  it  as  if  it 
were  a  matter  of  no  importance." 


154  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  I  don't  quite  understand  it  myself,  mamma.  I 
suppose  that  my  eyes  have  been  opened  altogether. 
At  any  rate,  I  feel  that  I  have  had  a  very  narrow 
escape.  I  was  certainly  very  much  worried  when  I 
first  learned  about  this,  two  days  ago,  and  I  was  even 
distressed ;  but  I  think  that  I  have  got  over  the  worry, 
and  I  am  sure  that  I  have  quite  got  over  the  distress." 

"  Then  you  cannot  have  cared  for  him,"  Lady 
Greendale  said,  emphatically. 

"  That  is  just  the  conclusion  that  I  have  arrived 
at  myself,  mamma,"  Bertha  said,  calmly.  "  I  cer- 
tainly thought  that  I  did,  and  now  I  feel  sure  that  I 
was  mistaken  altogether." 

Lady  Greendale  could  say  nothing  further.  "  I 
had  better  send  off  a  note  to  Frank,  my  dear,"  she  said, 
plaintively.  "  Of  course  you  are  not  thinking  of  going 
out  sailing  after  this." 

"  Indeed,  I  am,  mamma.  Why  shouldn't  we  ?  Of 
course  I  am  not  going  to  say  anything  here  of  what 
has  happened.  If  he  chooses  to  talk  about  it  he  can, 
but  I  don't  suppose  that  he  will.  It  is  just  the  end 
of  the  season,  and  we  need  not  go  back  to  town  at  all, 
and  next  spring  everyone  wrill  have  forgotten  all  about 
it.  You  know  what  people  will  say :  '  I  thought  that 
Greendale  girl  was  going  to  marry  Carthew.  I  sup- 
pose nothing  has  come  of  it.  Did  she  refuse  him  I 
wonder,  or  did  he  change  his  mind  ? '  And  there  will 
be  an  end  of  it.  The  end  of  the  season  wipes  a  sponge 
over  everything.  People  start  afresh,  and,  as  some- 
body says — Tennyson,  isn't  it?  or  Longfellow? — they 
'  let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead.'  " 

Lady  Greendale  lifted  her  hands  in  mild  despair, 
put  on  her  things,  and  went  down  to  the  boat  with 
Bertha. 

"I  have  brought  a  book,  mamma,"  the  latter  said 
as  they  went  down.  "  I  shall  tell  Frank  about  this, 
though  I  shall  tell  no  one  else.  I  always  knew  that  he 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  155 

did  not  like  Mr.  Carthew.  So  you  can  amuse  yourself 
reading  while  we  are  talking." 

"  You  are  a  curious  girl,  Bertha,"  her  mother  said, 
resignedly.  "  I  used  to  think  that  I  understood  you ; 
now  I  feel  that  I  don't  understand  you  at  all." 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  understand  myself,  mamma, 
but  I  know  enough  of  myself  to  see  that  I  am  not  so 
wise  as  I  thought  I  was,  and  somebody  says  that '  When 
you  first  discover  you  are  a  fool  it  is  the  first  step 
towards  being  wise,'  or  something  of  the  sort.  There 
is  Major  Mallett  standing  at  the  landing,  and  there  is 
the  gig.  I  think  that  she  is  the  prettiest  boat  here." 

The  mainsail  was  hoisted  by  the  time  they  reached 
the  side  of  the  yacht,  and  the  anchor  hove  short,  so 
that  in  two  or  three  minutes  they  were  under  way. 

"  She  looks  very  nice,"  Lady  Greendale  said ;  "  I 
thought  that  she  would  look  much  worse." 

"  You  should  have  seen  her  yesterday,  mamma, 
when  we  passed  her,  with  the  jagged  stumps  of  the 
topmast  and  bowsprit  and  all  her  ropes  in  disorder, 
the  sails  hanging  down  in  the  water  and  the  wreckage 
alongside.  I  could  have  cried  when  I  saw  her.  At 
any  rate  she  looks  very  neat  and  trim  now.  Where  is 
the  Phantom,  Major  Mallett?" 

"  She  got  under  way  at  eleven  o'clock  and  has  gone 
up  to  Southampton,"  he  replied,  quietly,  but  with  a 
half-interrogatory  glance  towards  her.  She  gave  a 
little  nod  and  took  a  chair  a  short  distance  from  that 
in  which  Lady  Greendale  had  seated  herself. 

"  Has  he  gone  for  good  ? "  Frank  asked,  as  he  sat 
down  beside  her. 

"  Of  course  he  has,"  she  said.  "  You  don't  suppose 
after  what  I  told  you  last  night  that  I  was  going  to 
accept  him." 

"  I  hoped  not,"  he  said,  gravely.  "  You  cannot  tell 
what  a  relief  it  has  been  to  me.  Of  course,  dear,  you 
will  understand  that  so  long  as  you  were  to  marry  a 


156  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

man  who  would  be  likely  to  make  you  happy  I  was 
content,  but  I  could  not  bear  to  think  of  your  mar- 
rying a  man  I  knew  to  be  altogether  unworthy  of 
you." 

"  You  know  very  well,"  she  said,  "  that  you  never 
intended  to  let  me  marry  him.  As  I  said  to  you  last 
night,  I  feel  very  much  aggrieved,  Major  Mallett.  You 
had  said  you  would  be  my  friend,  and  yet  you  let  this 
go  on  when  you  could  have  stopped  it  at  once.  You 
let  me  get  talked  about  with  that  man,  and  you  would 
have  gone  on  letting  me  get  still  more  talked  about 
before  you  interfered.  That  was  not  kind  or  friendly 
of  you." 

"  But,  Bertha,"  he  remonstrated,  "  the  fact  that  we 
had  not  been  friends,  and  that  he  had  beaten  me  in  a 
variety  of  matters,  was  no  reason  in  the  world  why 
I  should  interfere,  still  less  why  you  should  not  marry 
him.  When  I  was  stupid  enough  to  tell  you  that  story 
years  ago,  I  stated  that  I  had  no  grounds  for  saying 
that  it  was  he  who  played  that  trick  upon  my  boat, 
and  it  would  have  been  most  unfair  on  my  part  to  have 
brought  that  story  up  again." 

"  Quite  so,  but  there  was  the  other  story." 

"What  other  story?"  Frank  asked  in  great  sur- 
prise. 

"  The  story  that  George  Lechmere  came  and  told 
me  two  days  ago,"  she  said,  gravely. 

"  George  Lechmere !    You  don't  mean  to  say — 

"I  do  mean  to  say  so.  He  behaved  like  a  real 
friend  and  came  to  tell  me  the  story  of  Martha  Ben- 
nett. He  told  me,"  she  went  on,  as  he  was  about  to 
speak,  "  that  you  had  made  up  your  mind  to  tell 
mamma  about  it  directly  you  heard  that  I  was  en- 
gaged to  Mr.  Carthew.  That  would  have  been  some- 
thing, but  would  hardly  have  been  fair  to  me.  If  I 
had  once  been  engaged  to  him,  it  would  have  been 
very  hard  to  break  it  off,  and  naturally  it  would  have 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  157 

been  much  greater  pain  to  me  then  than  it  has  been 
now." 

"  I  felt  that ;  but  you  see,  Bertha,  until  you  did 
accept  him,  I  had  no  right  to  assume  that  you  would 
do  so.  At  least  so  I  understood  it,  and  I  did  not  feel 
that  in  my  position  I  was  called  upon  to  interfere  until 
I  learned  that  you  were  really  in  danger  of  what  I 
considered  wrecking  your  life's  happiness." 

"  I  understand  that,"  she  said,  gently,  "  and  I  know 
that  you  acted  for  the  best.  But  there  are  other  things 
you  have  not  told  me,  Major  Mallett — other  things 
that  George  Lechmere  has  told  me.  Did  you  think  that 
it  would  have  been  of  no  interest  to  me  to  know  that 
you  had  forgiven  the  man  who  tried  to  take  your  life, 
and,  more  than  that,  had  restored  his  self-respect, 
taken  him  as  your  servant,  treated  him  as  a  friend  ? " 
The  tears  stood  in  her  eyes  now.  "Don't  you  think, 
Frank,  that  was  a  thing  that  I  might  have  been  inter- 
ested to  know — a  thing  that  would  raise  you  immeas- 
urably in  the  eyes  of  a  woman — that  would  show  her 
vastly  more  of  your  real  character  than  she  could  know 
by  meeting  you  from  day  to  day  as  a  friend? " 

"  It  was  his  secret  and  not  mine,  Bertha ;  it  was 
known  to  but  him  and  me.  Never  was  a  man  more 
repentant  or  more  bitterly  regretful  for  a  fault — that 
was  in  my  eyes  scarcely  a  fault  at  all — except  that 
he  had  too  rashly  assumed  me  to  be  the  author  of  the 
ruin  of  the  girl  he  loved.  The  poor  fellow  had  been 
half-maddened,  and  was  scarce  responsible  for  his 
actions.  He  had  already  suffered  terribly,  and  the  least 
I  could  do  was  to  endeavour  to  restore  his  self-respect 
by  showing  him  that  I  had  entirely  forgiven  him.  Any 
kindness  that  I  have  shown  him  he  has  repaid  ten-fold, 
not  only  by  saving  my  life,  but  in  becoming  my  most 
sincere  and  attached  friend.  I  promised  him  that  I 
would  tell  no  one,  and  I  have  never  done  so,  and  no 
one  to  this  day  knows  it,  save  his  father  and  mother. 
11 


158  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

How  then  could  I  tell  even  you?  You  must  see  your- 
self that  it  was  impossible  that  I  could  tell  you.  Be- 
sides, the  story  was  of  no  interest  save  to  him  and 
me;  and  above  all,  as  I  said,  it  was  his  secret  and  not 
mine." 

"  I  see  that  now,"  she  said ;  "  still,  I  am  so  sorry, 
so  very  sorry,  that  I  did  not  know  it  before.  You  see, 
Frank,"  she  went  on,  after  a  pause,  "  we  women  have 
to  make  or  unmake  our  lives  very  much  in  the  dark. 
No  one  helps  us,  and  if  we  have  not  a  brother  to  do 
so,  we  are  groping  in  the  dark.  Look  at  me.  Here 
was  I,  believing  that  Mr.  Carthew,  whom  I  met  every- 
where in  society,  was,  except  that  he  kept  race-horses 
and  bet  heavily,  as  good  as  other  men.  He  was  very 
pleasant,  very  good-looking,  generally  liked,  and  in- 
finitely more  amusing  than  most  men  one  meets;  how 
was  I  to  tell  what  he  really  was?  On  the  other  hand, 
there  were  you,  my  dear  friend,  who,  I  knew,  had  shown 
yourself  a  very  brave  soldier,  and  whom  also  everyone 
liked  and  spoke  well  of,  but  of  whose  real  character  I 
did  not  know  much,  except  on  the  side  that  was  always 
presented  to  me;  and  now  I  find  you  capable  of  what 
I  consider  a  grand  act  of  generosity." 

"  You  overrate  the  matter  altogether,  Bertha ;  the 
man  shot  me  by  mistake;  the  fellow  he  took  me  for 
richly  deserved  shooting.  When  he  found  it  was  a  mis- 
take, the  poor  fellow  was  bitterly  sorry  for  it.  Surely, 
there  was  nothing  more  to  be  said  about  it." 

The  girl  sat  silent  for  some  time. 

"  Well,  it  is  all  cleared  up  now,"  she  said  at  last. 
"  There  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  be  friends  as 
of  old." 

"  None  whatever,"  he  said ;  "  there  has  been 
only "  and  he  stopped  short. 

"Only  what,  Frank?" 

"Nothing,"  he  said;  "we  will  be  just  as  we  were, 
Bertha;  I  will  try  and  be  the  good  elder  brother,  and 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  159 

scold  you  and  look  after  you,  and  warn  you,  if  it  should 
be  necessary,  until  you  get  under  other  guidance." 

"  It  will  be  some  time,"  she  said,  quietly,  "  before 
that  happens.  I  have  had  a  sharp  lesson." 

"  And  did  you  really  care  for  him  much,  Bertha  ? " 

"  I  don't  think  that  I  really  cared  for  him  at  all," 
she  said;  "that  is  not  the  lesson  that  I  was  think- 
ing of." 

He  saw  the  colour  mount  into  her  cheeks  as  she 
twisted  the  handkerchief  she  held  into  a  knot.  Then, 
turning  to  him,  she  said: 

"  Frank,  are  you  never  going  to  give  me  a  chance 


again 


I» 


He  could  not  misunderstand  her. 

"  Do  you  mean — can  you  mean,  Bertha  ?  "  he  said, 
in  a  low  tone ;  "  do  you  mean  that  if  I  ask  you  the 
same  question  again  you  will  give  me  a  different  an- 
swer?" 

"  I  did  not  know  then,"  she  said ;  "  I  had  never 
thought  of  it;  you  took  me  altogether  by  surprise,  and 
what  I  said  I  thought  .was  true.  Afterwards  I  knew 
that  I  had  been  mistaken.  I  hoped  that  you  would 
ask  me  again,  but  you  did  not,  and  I  soon  felt  that 
you  never  would.  You  tried  hard  to  be  as  you  were 
before,  but  you  were  not  the  same,  and  I  was  not  the 
same.  Then  I  did  not  seem  to  care.  There  were  three 
men  who  wanted  me.  I  did  not  care  much  which  it 
was,  but  I  would  not  have  anyone  say  that  I  had  mar- 
ried for  position — I  hated  the  idea  of  that — and  so  I 
would  have  taken  the  third.  He  was  bright  and  pleas- 
ant, and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  and  I  thought  that  I 
could  be  happy  with  him,  until  George  Lechmere 
opened  my  eyes.  Then,  of  course,  that  was  over;  but 
his  story  showed  me  still  more  what  a  fool  I  had  been, 
what  a  heart  I  had  thrown  away,  and  I  said,  '  I  will  at 
least  make  an  effort  to  undo  the  past,  I  will  not  let  my 
chance  of  happiness  go  away  from  me  merely  from 


160  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

false  pride.  If  he  loves  me  still  he  will  forgive  me; 
if  not,  at  least  I  shall  not,  all  through  my  life,  feel  that 
I  might  have  made  it  different  could  I  have  brought 
myself  to  speak  a  word.'  " 

"  I  love  you  as  much  as  ever,"  Frank  said,  taking 
her  hand.  "  I  love  you  more  for  speaking  as  you  have ; 
I  can  hardly  believe  my  happiness.  Can  it  be  that  you 
really  love  me,  Bertha  ?  " 

"  I  think  I  have  proved  it,  Frank.  I  do  love  you. 
I  have  known  it  for  some  time,  but  it  seemed  all  too 
late.  It  was  a  grief  rather  than  a  pleasure.  Every 
time  you  came  it  was  a  pain  to  me,  for  I  felt  that  I  had 
lost  you;  and  it  was  only  when  I  learned,  two  days 
ago,  how  you  could  forgive,  and  that  at  the  same  time 
I  could  free  myself  from  the  chain  I  had  allowed  to 
be  wound  round  me,  and  which  I  don't  think  I  could 
otherwise  have  broken,  that  I  made  up  my  mind  that 
it  should  not  be  my  fault  if  things  were  not  put  right 
between  us.  Now  let  us  tell  mother." 

Her  hand  was  still  in  his,  and  they  went  across  the 
deck  together. 

"  Mamma,"  she  said,  "  please  put  down  that  book. 
I  have  a  piece  of  news  for  you.  Frank  and  I  are  going 
to  be  married." 

Lady  Greendale  sat  for  a  moment  speechless  in 
astonishment.  She  knew  that  Bertha  had  wished  to 
tell  him  that  she  had  refused  Carthew's  offer,  but  that 
this  would  come  of  it  she  had  never  dreamt.  A  year 
before  she  had  approved  of  Bertha's  rejection  of  Frank, 
but  since  then  much  had  happened.  Bertha  had  shown 
that  she  would  not  marry  for  position  only,  and  that 
she  would  be  likely  to  take  her  own  way  entirely  in  the 
matter ;  and,  although  this  was  a  downfall  to  the  hopes 
that  she  had  once  entertained,  Lady  Greendale  was 
herself  very  fond  of  Frank,  and  it  was  at  any  rate 
better  than  having  Bertha  marry  a  man  of  whose  real 
means  she  was  ignorant,  and  who,  as  everyone  knew, 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  161 

bet  heavily  on  the  turf.  These  ideas  flashed  rapidly 
through  her  mind,  and  holding  out  one  hand  to  each, 
she  said : 

"  There  is  no  one  to  whom  I  could  more  confidently 
entrust  her  happiness,  Frank.  God  bless  you  both." 
Then  she  betook  herself  to  her  pocket-handkerchief, 
for  her  tears  came  easily,  and  on  this  occasion  she  her- 
self could  hardly  have  said  whether  they  were  the  re- 
sult of  pleasure  in  Bertha's  happiness  or  regret  at  the 
downfall  of  the  air-castles  she  had  once  built. 

"  I  think,  Bertha,  our  best  plan  will  be  to  go  below 
now,"  Frank  suggested,  quietly. 

"What  for?"  Bertha  asked,  shyly.  The  thing  had 
been  done.  She  felt  radiantly  happy,  but  more  shocked 
at  her  own  boldness  than  she  had  been  when  she  per- 
petrated it. 

"  Well,  my  dear,  I  thought  that  perhaps  you  would 
rather  not  kiss  me  in  sight  of  the  whole  crew,  and  cer- 
tainly I  shan't  be  able  to  restrain  myself  much  longer." 

"  Then,  in  that  case,"  she  said,  demurely,  "  perhaps 
we  had  better  go  below." 

It  was  half  an  hour  before  they  came  on  deck  again. 

"  Well,  my  dears,"  Lady  Greendale  said,  "  the  more 
I  think  of  it  the  better  I  am  pleased.  As  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  nothing  could  be  nicer.  I  shall  have  Bertha 
within  a  short  drive  of  me,  and  it  won't  be  like  losing 
her.  Do  you  know,  Bertha,  your  father  said  to  me 
once,  '  I  would  give  anything  if  some  day  Frank  Mal- 
lett  and  our  Bertha  were  to  take  a  fancy  to  each  other. 
There  is  nothing  I  should  like  more  than  to  have  her 
settled  near  us,  and  there  is  no  one  I  know  more  likely 
to  make  her  happy  than  he  would  be.'  I  am  sure,  dear, 
that  you  will  be  glad  to  know  that  your  engagement 
would  have  had  his  approval,  as  it  has  mine." 

Bertha  bent  down  and  kissed  her  mother,  with  tears 
standing  in  her  eyes. 

"It  will  be  a  great  pleasure  to  us  both  to  have 


162  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

you  so  near  us,"  Frank  said,  earnestly.  "  You  know 
that,  having  lost  my  own  mother  so  long  ago,  I  have 
always  looked  upon  you  as  more  of  a  mother  than  any- 
one else,  and  have  always  felt  almost  as  much  at  home 
in  your  house  as  in  my  own.  Now,  let  us  sit  down 
and  talk  it  over  quietly.  In  the  first  place,  I  propose 
that  on  Monday,  when  you  leave  Lord  Haverley's,  you 
shall  both  come  here  for  a  time.  The  Solent  will  be 
very  pleasant  for  the  next  fortnight,  and  we  can  then 
take  a  fortnight's  cruise  west,  and,  if  you  like,  land 
at  Plymouth,  and  go  straight  home." 

"  I  should  be  very  glad,"  Lady  Greendale  said  at 
once,  rejoiced  at  the  thought  that  she  would  thus  avoid 
the  necessity  of  answering  any  questions  about  Bertha, 
"  and  there  will  be  no  occasion  at  all  to  speak  of  this 
at  my  cousin's.  There  might  be  all  sorts  of  questions 
asked,  and  expressions  of  surprise,  and  so  on.  It  will 
be  quite  time  enough  to  write  to  our  friends  after  we 
have  been  comfortably  settled  at  home  for  a  time.  We 
can  talk  over  all  that  afterwards." 

"  Yes,  and  I  should  think,  Lady  Greendale,  that  it 
would  save  the  trouble  of  two  letters  if,  while  men- 
tioning that  Bertha  is  engaged  to  your  neighbour, 
Major  Mallett,  you  could  add  that  the  marriage  will 
come  off  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks.  Don't  you 
think  so,  Bertha  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not,"  she  said,  saucily ;  "  it  will  be  quite 
time  to  talk  about  that  a  long  time  hence." 

"  Well,  I  will  put  off  talking  about  it  for  a  short 
time,  but,  you  see,  I  have  had  a  year's  waiting  al- 
ready." 

Very  pleasant  was  the  three  hours'  cruise;  no  one 
gave  a  thought  of  the  missing  topmast  and  bowsprit; 
there  was  a  nice  sailing  breeze,  and,  clipped  as  her 
wings  were,  the  Osprey  was  still  faster  than  the  ma- 
jority of  the  yachts.  As  soon  as  the  two  ladies  had 
been  put  ashore,  Frank  sailed  for  Cowes. 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  163 

It  was  too  late  when  they  got  there  for  anything 
to  be  done  that  evening,  but  Frank  went  ashore  with 
the  captain  and  found  that  the  spars  were  all  ready 
to  receive  the  iron  work  and  sheaves  from  the  old  ones, 
and  as  these  had  been  towed  up  to  the  yard  to  be  in 
readiness,  Messrs.  White  promised  that  they  would 
arrange  for  a  few  hands  to  come  to  work  early,  and 
that  the  spars  should  be  brought  off  by  half -past  eight 
on  Monday  morning. 

As  soon  as  he  had  returned  in  the  gig,  after  put- 
ting the  ladies  ashore  at  Hyde,  Frank  had  called  George 
Lechmere  to  him. 

"  It  is  all  right,  George,  thanks  to  your  interview 
with  Miss  Greendale;  it  was  a  bold  step  to  take,  but 
it  was  the  best  possible  thing  and  succeeded  splen- 
didly, and  everything  is  to  be  as  I  wish  it." 

"  I  am  glad,  indeed,  to  hear  it,  Major,  and  I  hoped 
that  you  would  have  something  of  the  sort  to  tell  me. 
There  was  a  look  about  you  both  that  I  took  to  mean 
that  things  were  going  on  well." 

"  Yes,  George ;  at  first  when  she  told  me  that  you 
had  told  her  about  that  affair  at  Delhi  I  felt  that  there 
was  really  no  occasion  for  you  to  have  said  anything 
about  it ;  but  it  did  me  a  great  deal  of  good.  She  made 
much  more  of  it  than  theje  was  any  occasion  for;  but, 
you  know,  when  women  are  inclined  to  take  a  pleasant 
view  of  a  thing,  they  will  magnify  molehills  into  moun- 
tains." 

"I  thought  that  it  would  do  good,  Major;  I  don't 
mean  that  it  would  do  you  any  good,  but  that  it 
would  do  good  generally.  I  had  to  tell  the  other 
story,  and  that  came  naturally  with  it;  and,  at 
any  rate,  she  could  not  but  see  that  there  was  a 
deal  of  difference  between  the  nature  of  the  man 
who  had  been  so  good  to  me  and  that  of  that  scoun- 
drel." 

"That  is  just  the  effect  it  did  have.     Well,  don't 


164  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

say  anything  about  it  forward,  at  present;  the  men 
shall  be  told  later  on." 

By  one  o'clock  on  Monday  the  Osprey  was  back  at 
Ryde,  and  at  two  o'clock  the  dingey  went  ashore  with 
the  mate  and  two  of  the  hands,  who  waited  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  till  a  vehicle  brought  down  the  ladies'  lug- 
gage. Soon  afterwards  Frank  went  ashore  in  the  gig, 
and  brought  Lady  Greendale  and  Bertha  off.  As  they 
went  down  to  their  cabin,  Bertha,  looking  into  the 
saloon,  saw  George  Lechmere  preparing  the  tea-tray  to 
bring  it  up  on  deck.  She  at  once  went  to  him. 

"  I  did  not  thank  you  before,"  she  said,  holding  out 
her  hand,  "  but  I  thank  you  now,  and  shall  thank  you 
all  my  life.  You  did  me  the  greatest  service." 

"  I  am  glad,  indeed,  Miss  Greendale,  that  it  was  so, 
for  I  know  that  the  Major  would  never  have  been  a 
happy  man  if  this  had  not  come  about." 

For  the  next  fortnight  the  Osprey  was  cruising 
along  the  coast,  getting  as  far  as  Torquay,  and  re- 
turning to  Cowes.  Frank  did  not  enter  her  for  any 
of  the  races.  Lady  Greendale,  although  a  fair  sailor, 
grew  nervous  when  the  yacht  heeled  over  far,  and  even 
Bertha  did  not  care  for  racing,  the  memory  of  the 
last  race  being  too  fresh  in  her  mind  for  her  to  wish 
to  take  part  in  another  for  the  present. 


CHAPTER  XL 

"  THAT  is  an  uncommonly  pretty  trading  schooner, 
Bertha,"  Frank  Mallett  said,  as  he  rose  from  his  chair 
to  get  a  better  look  at  a  craft  that  was  passing  along 
to  the  eastward.  "  I  suppose  she  must  be  in  the  fruit 
trade,  and  must  just  have  arrived  from  the  Levant. 
I  should  not  be  surprised  if  she  had  been  a  yacht  at 
one  time;  she  is  not  carrying  much  sail,  but  she  is 
going  along  fast.  I  think  they  would  have  done  better 
if  they  had  rigged  her  as  a  fore-and-aft  schooner  in- 
stead of  putting  those  heavy  yards  on  the  foremast. 
That  broad  band  of  white  round  her  spoils  her  appear- 
ance; her  jib-boom  is  unusually  long,  and  she  must 
carry  a  tremendous  spread  of  canvas  in  light  winds.  I 
should  think  that  she  must  be  full  up  to  the  hatches, 
for  she  is  very  low  in  the  water  for  a  trader." 

The  Osprey  was  lying  in  the  outside  tier  of  yachts 
off  Cowes;  the  party  that  had  been  on  board  her  for 
the  regatta  had  broken  up  a  week  before,  and  only 
Lady  Greendale  and  Bertha  remained  on  board.  The 
former  had  not  been  well  for  some  days,  and  had  had 
her  maid  down  from  town  as  soon  as  the  cabins  were 
empty.  It  had  been  proposed,  indeed,  that  she  and 
Bertha  should  return  to  town,  but,  being  unwilling 
to  cut  short  the  girl's  pleasure,  she  said  that  she  should 
do  better  on  board  than  in  London;  and,  moreover, 
she  did  not  feel  equal  to  travelling.  She  was  attended 
by  a  doctor  in  Cowes,  and  the  Osprey  only  took  short 
sails  each  day,  generally  down  to  the  Needles  and  back, 
or  out  to  the  Nab. 

165 


166  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  Yes,  she  is  a  nice-looking  boat,"  Bertha  agreed, 
"and  if  her  sails  were  white  and  her  ropes  neat  and 
trim,  she  would  look  like  a  yacht,  except  for  those 
big  yards." 

"Her  skipper  must  be  a  lubber  to  have  the  ropes 
hanging  about  like  that;  of  course,  he  may  have  had 
bad  weather  in  crossing  the  bay,  but  if  he  had  any 
pride  in  the  craft,  he  might  at  least  have  got  her  into 
a  good  deal  better  trim  while  coming  in  from  the 
Needles.  Still,  all  that  could  be  remedied  in  an  hour's 
work,  and  certainly  she  is  as  pretty  a  trader  as  ever 
I  saw.  How  did  your  mother  seem  this  afternoon, 
Bertha?" 

"  About  the  same,  I  think ;  I  don't  feel  at  all  anx- 
ious about  her,  because  I  have  often  seen  her  like  this 
before.  I  think  really,  Frank,  that  she  is  quite  well 
enough  to  go  up  to  town;  but  she  knows  that  I  am 
enjoying  myself  so  much  that  she  does  not  like  to 
take  me  away.  I  have  no  doubt  that  she  will  find  her- 
self better  by  Saturday,  when,  you  know,  we  arranged 
some  time  back  that  we  would  go  up.  You  won't  be 
long  before  you  come,  will  you  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not.  Directly  you  have  landed  I  shall 
take  the  Osprey  to  Gosport,  and  lay  her  up  there.  I 
need  not  stop  to  see  that  done;  I  can  trust  Hawkins 
to  see  her  stripped  and  everything  taken  on  shore; 
and,  of  course,  the  people  at  the  yard  are  responsible 
for  hauling  her  up.  I  shall  probably  be  in  town  the 
same  evening;  but,  if  you  like,  and  think  that  your 
mother  is  only  stopping  for  you,  we  will  go  across  to 
Southampton  at  once." 

"  Oh,  no,  I  am  sure  that  she  would  not  like  that ; 
and  I  don't  want  to  lose  my  last  three  days  here.  Of 
course,  when  we  get  home  at  the  end  of  next  week, 
and  you  are  settled  down  there,  too,  you  will  be  a  great 
deal  over  at  Greendale,  but  it  won't  be  as  it  is  here." 

"  Not  by  a  long  way ;  however,  we  shall  be  able 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  167 

to  look  forward  to  the  spring,  Bertha,  when  I  shall 
have  you  all  to  myself  on  board,  and  we  shall  go  on 
a  long  cruise  together;  though  I  do  think  that  it  is 
ridiculous  that  I  should  have  to  wait  until  then." 

"  Not  at  all  ridiculous,  sir.  You  say  that  you  are 
perfectly  happy — and  everyone  says  that  an  engage- 
ment is  the  happiest  time  in  one's  life — and  besides, 
it  is  partly  your  own  fault ;  you  have  made  me  so  fond 
of  the  Osprey  that  I  have  quite  made  up  my  mind  that 
nothing  could  possibly  be  so  nice  as  to  spend  our  honey- 
moon on  board  her,  and  to  go  where  we  like,  and  to  do 
as  we  like,  without  being  bothered  by  meeting  people 
one  does  not  care  for.  And,  besides,  if  you  should 
get  tired  of  my  company,  we  might  ask  Jack  Harley 
and  Amy  to  come  to  us  for  a  month  or  so." 

"  I  don't  think  that  it  will  be  necessary  for  us  to 
do  that,"  he  laughed.  "  Starting  as  we  shall  in  the 
middle  of  March,  we  shan't  find  it  too  hot  in  the  Medi- 
terranean before  we  turn  our  head  homewards;  and 
I  think  we  shall  find  plenty  to  amuse  us  between  Gib- 
raltar and  Jaffa." 

"  No,  three  months  won't  be  too  much,  Frank.  To- 
morrow is  the  dinner  at  the  club-house,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"Yes;  I  should  be  sorry  to  miss  that,  for  having 
only  been  just  elected  a  member  of  the  Squadron,  I 
should  like  to  put  in  an  appearance  at  the  first  set 
dinner." 

"  Of  course,  Frank ;  I  certainly  should  not  like  you 
to  miss  it." 

The  next  evening  Frank  went  ashore  to  dine  at 
the  club.  An  hour  and  a  half  later  a  yacht's  boat 
came  off. 

"  I  have  a  note  for  Miss  Greendale,"  the  man  in  the 
stern  said,  as  she  came  alongside ;  "  I  am  to  give  it  to 
her  myself." 

Bertha  was  summoned,  and,  much  surprised,  came 
on  deck. 


168  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

The  man  handed  up  the  note  to  her;  she  took  it 
into  the  companion,  where  a  light  was  burning;  her 
name  and  that  of  the  yacht  were  in  straggling  hand- 
writing that  she  scarcely  recognised  as  Frank's. 

She  tore  it  open. 

"  MY  DARLING  :  I  have  had  a  nasty  accident,  having 
been  knocked  down  just  as  I  landed.  I  am  at  present 
at  Dr.  Maddison's;  I  wish  you  would  come  ashore  at 
once.  It  is  nothing  very  serious,  but  if  you  did  not 
see  me  you  might  think  that  it  was.  Don't  agitate 
your  mother,  but  bring  Anna  with  you;  the  boat  that 
brings  this  note  will  take  you  ashore." 

Bertha  gave  a  little  gasp,  and  then  summoning  up 
her  courage,  ran  down  into  the  cabin. 

"  Mamma,  dear,  you  must  spare  me  and  Anna  for 
half  an  hour.  I  have  just  had  a  note  from  Frank;  he 
has  been  knocked  down  and  hurt.  He  says  that  it  is 
nothing  very  serious,  and  he  only  writes  to  me  to  come 
ashore  so  that  I  can  assure  myself.  I  won't  stop  more 
than  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  If  I  find  that  he  is  worse 
than  I  expect,  I  will  send  Anna  off  to  you  with  a 
message." 

Scarcely  listening  to  what  her  mother  said  in  reply, 
she  ran  into  her  cabin,  told  Anna  to  put  on  her  hat 
and  shawl  to  go  ashore  with  her,  and  in  a  minute  de- 
scended to  the  boat  with  her  maid.  It  was  a  four- 
oared  gig,  and  the  helmsman  had  taken  his  place  in 
the  stern  behind  them.  Bertha  sat  cold  and  still  with- 
out speaking.  She  was  sure  that  Frank  must  be  more 
seriously  hurt  than  he  had  said,  or  he  would  have  had 
himself  taken  off  to  the  yacht  instead  of  to  the  sur- 
geon's. The  shaky  and  almost  illegible  handwriting 
showed  the  difficulty  he  must  have  had  in  holding  the 
pencil. 

The  boat  made  its  way  through  the  fleet  till  it 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  169 

reached  the  shallow  water  which  they  had  to  cross 
on  their  way  to  the  shore.  Here,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  small  craft,  the  water  was  clear  of  yachts. 

Suddenly  the  long  line  of  lights  along  the  shore 
disappeared,  and  something  thick,  heavy  and  soft  fell 
over  Bertha's  head.  An  arm  was  thrown  round  her 
and  Anna  pressed  tightly  against  her.  In  vain  she 
struggled ;  there  was  a  faint  strange  smell,  and  she  lost 
consciousness. 

An  hour  passed  without  her  return  to  the  yacht, 
and  Lady  Greendale  began  to  fear  that  she  had  found 
Frank  too  ill  to  leave,  and  had  forgotten  to  send  Anna 
back  with  the  message.  At  last  she  touched  the  bell. 

"  Will  you  tell  the  captain  that  I  want  to  speak 
to  him?" 

"  Captain,"  she  said,  "  I  am  much  alarmed  about 
Major  Mallett;  that  boat  that  came  off  here  an  hour 
ago  brought  a  note  for  my  daughter,  saying  that  he 
had  been  hurt,  and  she  went  ashore  with  her  maid  to 
see  him.  She  said  that  she  would  be  back  in  a  short 
time,  and  that  if  she  found  that  he  was  badly  hurt  she 
would  send  her  maid  back  with  a  message  to  me.  She 
has  been  gone  for  more  than  an  hour,  and  I  wish  you 
would  take  a  boat  and  go  ashore,  find  out  how  the  Major 
is,  and  bring  me  back  word  at  once.  He  is  at  Dr.  Mad- 
dison's;  you  know  the  house." 

The  skipper  hurried  away  with  a  serious  face.  A 
little  more  than  a  minute  after  he  had  left  the  cabin 
Lady  Greendale  heard  the  rattle  of  the  blocks  of  the 
falls.  The  boat  was  little  more  than  half  an  hour 
away.  Lady  Greendale,  in  her  anxiety,  had  told  the 
steward  to  let  her  know  when  it  was  coming  along- 
side, and  went  up  on  deck  to  get  the  news  as  quickly 
as  possible. 

"It  is  a  rum  affair  altogether,  my  lady,"  Hawkins 
said,  as  he  stepped  on  deck.  "  I  went  to  the  doctor's, 
and  he  has  seen  nothing  whatever  of  the  Major,  and 


170  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

Miss  Greendale  and  her  maid  have  not  been  to  his 
house  at  all." 

Lady  Greendale  stood  for  a  moment  speechless  with 
surprise  and  consternation. 

"This  is  most  extraordinary,"  she  said  at  last;  "what 
can  it  mean?  You  are  sure  that  there  is  no  mistake, 
captain?  It  was  to  Dr.  Maddison's  house  she  went." 

"  Yes,  my  lady,  there  ain't  no  mistake  about  that ; 
I  have  been  there  to  fetch  medicine  for  you  two  or 
three  times.  Besides,  I  saw  the  doctor  myself." 

"  Major  Mallett  must  have  been  taken  to  some 
other  doctor's,"  she  said,  "  and  must  have  made  a  mis- 
take and  put  in  the  name  of  Dr.  Maddison;  his  house 
is  some  little  distance  from  the  club ;  there  may  be  an- 
other doctor's  nearer.  What  is  to  be  done  ? " 

"  I  am  sure  I  do  not  know,  my  lady,"  the  captain 
said,  in  perplexity. 

"  Where  can  my  daughter  and  her  maid  be  ? "  Lady 
Greendale  went  on ;  "  they  went  ashore  to  go  to  Dr. 
Maddison's." 

"  Perhaps,  my  lady,  they  might  have  heard  as  they 
went  ashore  that  the  Major  was  somewhere  else,  or 
some  messenger  might  have  been  waiting  at  the  land- 
ing-stage to  take  them  there  direct." 

"  That  must  be  it,  I  suppose ;  but  it  is  all  very 
strange.  I  think  the  best  thing,  captain,  will  be  for 
you  to  go  to  the  club;  they  are  sure  to  know  there 
about  the  accident,  and  where  he  is.  You  see,  the 
landing-stage  is  close  to  the  club,  and  he  might  have 
been  just  going  in  when  he  was  knocked  down — by  a 
carriage,  I  suppose." 

"Like  enough  he  is  at  the  club  still,  my  lady;  at 
any  rate,  I  will  go  there  in  the  first  place  and  find  out. 
There  is  sure  to  be  a  crowd  about  the  gates  listening 
to  the  music — they  have  got  a  band  over  from  New- 
port— so  that  if  they  do  not  know  anything  at  the  club, 
there  are  sure  to  be  some  people  outside  who  saw  the 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

accident,  and  will  know  where  the  Major  was  taken. 
Anyhow,  I  won't  come  back  without  news." 

Even  to  Lady  Greeiidale,  anxious  and  alarmed  as 
she  was,  it  did  not  seem  long  before  the  steward  came 
down  with  the  news  that  the  boat  was  just  alongside. 
This  time  she  was  too  agitated  to  go  up;  she  heard 
someone  come  running  down  the  companion,  and  a 
moment  later,  to  her  astonishment,  Frank  Mallett  him- 
self came  in.  He  looked  pale  and  excited. 

"  What  is  all  this,  Lady  Greendale  ?  "  he  exclaimed ; 
"  the  skipper  tells  me  that  a  letter  came  here  saying 
that  I  had  been  hurt  and  taken  to  Dr.  Maddison's,  and 
that  Bertha  and  her  maid  went  off  at  once,  and  have 
not  returned,  though  it  is  more  than  two  hours  since 
they  went.  I  have  not  been  hurt;  I  wrote  no  letter 
to  Bertha,  but  was  at  dinner  at  the  club  when  the 
skipper  came  for  me.  What  is  it  all  about  ? " 

"  I  don't  know,  Frank ;  I  cannot  even  think,"  Lady 
Greendale  said  in  an  agitated  voice.  "  What  can  it  all 
mean  and  where  can  Bertha  be  ? "  and  she  burst  into 
tears. 

"I  don't  know;  I  can't  think,"  Frank  said,  slowly. 

He  stood  silent  for  a  minute  or  two,  and  then  went 
on :  "I  cannot  suggest  anything ;  I  will  go  ashore  at 
once.  The  waterman  at  our  landing-stage  must  have 
noticed  if  two  ladies  got  out  there;  he  could  hardly 
have  helped  doing  so,  for  it  would  be  curious,  their 
coming  ashore  alone  after  dark.  Then  I  will  go  to 
the  other  landing-places  and  ask  there;  there  are  al- 
ways boys  hanging  about  to  earn  a  few  pence  by  tak- 
ing care  of  boats.  I  will  be  back  as  soon  as  I  can." 

The  boat  was  still  alongside,  and  the  men  stretched 
to  their  oars.  In  a  very  few  minutes  they  were  at  the 
club  landing-stage.  The  waterman  here  declared  that 
no  ladies  whatever  unaccompanied  by  gentlemen  had 
landed  after  dark. 

"  I  must  have  seen  them,  sir,"  he  said,  "  for  you 


172  THE  QUEEN'S  CUR 

see  I  go  down  to  help  out  every  party  that  arrives 
here.  They  must  have  gone  to  one  of  the  other  landing- 
places." 

But  at  neither  of  these  could  he  obtain  any  in- 
formation. There  were  several  boys  at  each  of  them 
who  had  been  there  for  hours,  and  they  were  unani- 
mous in  declaring  that  no  ladies  had  landed  there 
after  dark  at  all.  He  then  walked  up  and  down  between 
the  watch-house  and  the  club.  He  had  when  he  landed 
intended  to  go  to  the  police  office  as  soon  as  he  had 
inquired  at  the  landing-stages — the  natural  impulse 
of  an  Englishman  who  has  suffered  loss  or  wrong — 
but  the  more  he  thought  it  over  the  more  inexpedient 
did  such  a  course  seem  to  him.  It  was  highly  improb- 
able— indeed,  it  seemed  to  him  impossible — that  they 
could  do  more  than  he  had  in  the  matter.  The  passage 
of  two  ladies  through  the  crowded  streets  would  scarce- 
ly have  attracted  the  attention  of  anyone,  and  any  idea 
of  violence  being  used  was  out  of  the  question.  If 
they  had  landed,  which  he  now  regarded  as  very  im- 
probable, they  must  have  at  least  gone  willingly  to 
the  place  where  they  believed  they  should  find  him, 
and  unless  every  house  in  Cowes  was  searched  from  top 
to  bottom  there  was  no  chance  of  finding  them,  care- 
fully hidden  away  as  they  would  be.  He  could  not  see, 
therefore,  that  the  police  could  at  present  be  of  any 
utility  whatever.  It  might  be  necessary  finally  to 
obtain  the  aid  of  the  police,  but  in  that  case  it  was 
Scotland  Yard  and  not  Cowes  that  the  matter  must 
be  laid  before;  and  even  this  should  be  only  a  last 
resort,  for  above  all  things  it  was  necessary  for  Bei'tha's 
sake  that  the  matter  should  be  kept  a  profound  secret, 
and,  once  in  the  hands  of  the  police,  it  would  be  in 
all  the  papers  the  next  day.  If  the  aid  of  detectives 
was  to  be  called  in,  it  would  be  far  better  to  put  it  into 
the  hands  of  a  private  detective.  Having  made  up  his 
mind  upon  this  point,  he  returned  to  the  yacht. 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  173 

"I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  have  no  news,"  he  said 
to  Lady  Greendale,  who  was  lying  on  the  couch  worn 
out  with  weeping.  "  I  have  ascertained  almost  beyond 
doubt  that  they  did  not  land  at  the  club-stage  or  either 
of  the  other  two  landing-places." 

"  What  can  it  be  ? "  she  sobbed.  "  What  can  have 
become  of  them  ?  " 

"  I  am  afraid  there  is  little  doubt  that  they  have 
been  carried  off,"  he  replied.  "  I  can  see  no  other  pos- 
sible solution  of  it." 

"  But  who  can  have  done  such  a  thing  ? " 

"  Ah !  that  is  another  matter.  I  have  been  think- 
ing it  over  and  over,  and  there  is  only  one  man  that 
I  know  capable  of  such  a  dastardly  action.  At  present 
I  won't  mention  his  name,  even  to  you ;  but  I  will  so6n 
be  on  his  track.  Do  not  give  way,  Lady  Greendale; 
even  he  is  not  capable  of  injuring  her,  and  110  doubt 
she  will  be  restored  to  you  safe  and  sound.  But  we 
shall  need  patience.  Ah !  there  is  a  boat  coming  along- 
side." 

He  ran  up  on  deck.  It  proved,  however,  to  be  only 
a  shore  boat,  bringing  off  George  Lechmere,  who,  hav- 
ing met  a  comrade  in  the  town,  had  asked  leave  to 
spend  the  evening  with  him.  He  was,  of  course,  ig- 
norant of  all  that  had  happened  since  he  had  left,  and 
Frank  told  him. 

"  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that  she  has  been  car- 
ried off,"  he  said,  "  and  there  is  only  one  man  who 
could  have  done  it." 

"  That  villain,  Carthew,"  George  Lechmere  ex- 
claimed. 

"  Yes,  he  is  the  man  I  suspect,  George.  I  heard 
this  evening  that  he  had  been  hit  tremendously  hard 
on  the  turf  at  Goodwood.  He  would  think  that  if  he 
could  force  Miss  Greendale  to  marry  him  it  would  re- 
trieve his  fortune,  and  would,  moreover,  satisfy  his  vin- 
dictive spirit  for  the  manner  in  which  she  had  rejected 
12 


174  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

him,  and  in  addition  give  him  another  triumph  over 
me." 

"  That  is  it,  sir ;  I  have  no  doubt  that  that  is  it. 
But  his  yacht  is  not  here — at  least  I  have  not  seen 
her." 

"  No,  I  am  sure  that  she  is  not  here ;  but  I  believe, 
for  all  that,  that  Miss  Greendale  must  have  been  taken 
on  board  a  yacht.  They  never  would  have  dared  to 
land  her  in  Cowes.  Of  course,  I  made  inquiries  as  a 
matter  of  form  at  the  landing-places,  but  as  she  knew 
the  way  to  Dr.  Maddison's,  and  as  the  streets  were 
full  of  people  at  the  time  she  landed,  they  could  never 
have  attempted  to  use  violence,  especially  as  she  had 
her  maid  with  her.  On  the  other  hand,  it  would  have 
been  comparatively  easy  to  manage  it  in  the  case  of  a 
yacht.  They  had  but  to  row  alongside,  to  seize  and 
gag  them  before  they  had  time  to  utter  a  cry,  and  then 
to  carry  them  below.  The  Phantom  is  not  here — at  any 
rate,  was  not  here  this  afternoon,  but  there  is  no  reason 
why  Carthew  should  not  have  chartered  a  yacht  for  the 
purpose.  Ask  the  skipper  to  come  aft." 

"  Captain,"  he  said,  when  Hawkins  came  aft,  "  what 
men  went  ashore  this  afternoon  ?  " 

"  Harris  and  Williams  and  Marvel,  sir.  They  went 
ashore  in  the  dingey,  and  Harris  went  to  the  doctor's 
for  that  medicine." 

"  Ask  them  to  come  here." 

"  Did  anyone  speak  to  you,  Harris,"  he  went  on, 
as  the  three  men  came  aft,  "while  you  were  ashore 
to-day  ?  I  mean  anyone  that  you  did  not  know." 

"  No,  sir,"  the  man  said,  promptly.  "  Leastwise, 
the  only  chap  that  spoke  to  me  was  a  gent  as  was 
standing  on  the  steps  by  the  watch-house  as  I  went 
down  to  the  boat,  and  he  only  says  to  me,  '  I  noticed 
you  go  in  to  Dr.  Maddison's,  my  man.  There  is  noth- 
ing the  matter  with  my  friend,  Major  Mallett,  I  hope.' 
'  No,  sir,'  says  I,  '  he  is  all  right.  I  was  just  getting 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  175 

a  bottle  of  medicine  for  an  old  lady  on  board.'  That 
was  all  that  passed  between  us." 

"  Thank  you,  Harris.  That  is  just  what  I  wanted 
to  know."  After  the  men  had  gone  forward  again,  he 
said  to  the  captain : 

"  I  have  a  strong  conviction,  Hawkins,  indeed  I  am 
almost  certain,  that  Miss  Greendale  has  been  carried 
off  to  one  of  the  yachts  here,  but  whether  it  is  a  large 
one  or  a  small  one  I  have  not  the  slightest  idea.  The 
question  is,  what  is  to  be  done?  It  is  past  eleven  now, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  go  round  the  fleet  and  make 
enquiries.  Besides,  the  craft  may  have  made  off  al- 
ready. They  would  have  been  sure  to  have  placed  her 
in  the  outside  tier,  so  as  to  get  up  anchor  as  soon  as 
they  had  Miss  Greendale  on  board." 

"  We  might  get  out  the  boats,  sir,  and  lie  off  and 
see  if  any  yachts  set  sail,"  the  skipper  suggested. 

"  That  would  be  of  no  use,  Hawkins.  You  could 
not  stop  them.  Even  if  you  hailed  to  know  what  yacht 
it  was,  they  might  give  you  a  false  name.  One  thing 
I  have  been  thinking  of  that  can  be  done.  I  wish,  in 
the  first  place,  that  you  would  ask  all  the  men  if  any- 
one has  noticed  among  the  yacht  sailors  in  the  streets 
one  with  the  name  of  the  Phantom  on  his  jersey.  Some 
of  them  may  have  been  paid  off,  for  she  has  not  been 
raced  since  Ryde.  In  any  case,  I  want  two  of  the  men 
to  go  ashore,  the  first  thing  in  the  morning,  and  hang 
about  all  day,  if  necessary,  in  hopes  of  finding  one  of 
the  Phantom's  crew.  If  they  do  find  one,  bring  him 
off  at  once,  and  tell  him  that  he  will  be  well  paid  for 
his  trouble.  By  the  way,  you  may  as  well  ask  Harris 
what  the  gentleman  was  like  who  spoke  to  him  at  the 
landing-place." 

He  walked  slowly  backwards  and  forwards  with 
George  Lechmere,  without  exchanging  a  word,  until  in 
five  minutes  Hawkins  returned. 

"  It  was  a  clean-shaven  man  who  spoke  to  Harris, 


176  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

sir;  he  judged  him  to  be  about  forty.  He  wore  a 
sort  of  yachting  dress,  and  he  was  rather  short  and 
thin.  About  the  other  matter  Kawlins  says  that  he 
noticed  when  he  was  ashore  yesterday  two  of  the  Phan- 
tom's men  strolling  about.  Being  a  Cowes  man  him- 
self, he  knew  them  both,  but  as  they  were  not  alone  he 
just  passed  the  time  of  day  and  went  on  without  stop- 
ping." 

"  Does  he  know  where  they  live  ?  I  don't  think  it 
at  all  likely  they  would  be  on  leave  now,  or  that  he 
would  find  either  of  them  at  home  to-morrow  morn- 
ing; but  it  is  possible  that  he  might  do  so.  At  any 
rate  it  is  worth  trying.  It  is  curious  that  two  of  them 
should  be  here  when  we  have  seen  nothing  of  the  Phan- 
tom since  the  race  for  the  cup,  unless,  of  course,  her 
owner  has  laid  her  up,  which  is  hardly  likely.  If  she 
had  been  anywhere  about  here  she  would  have  entered 
for  the  race  yesterday." 

"  I  will  send  Rawlins  and  one  of  the  other  Cowes 
men  ashore  at  six  o'clock,  Major;  if  they  don't  meet 
the  men,  they  are  safe  to  be  able  to  find  out  where  they 
live." 

"  And  tell  them  and  the  others,  Hawkins,  that  on  no 
account  whatever  is  a  word  to  be  said  on  shore  as  to 
the  disappearance  of  Miss  Greendale.  It  is  of  great 
importance  that  no  one  should  obtain  the  slightest  hint 
of  what  has  taken  place." 

When  the  captain  had  again  gone  forward,  Frank 
went  down,  and  with  some  difficulty  persuaded  Lady 
Greendale  to  go  to  bed. 

"  We  can  do  nothing  more  to-night,"  he  said ;  "  you 
may  well  imagine  that  if  I  saw  the  least  chance  of 
doing  any  good  I  should  not  be  standing  here,  but 
nothing  can  be  done  till  morning." 

Having  seen  her  to  her  state-room,  he  returned  to 
the  deck,  where  he  had  told  George  Lechmere  to  wait 
for  him. 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  177 

"It  is  enough  to  drive  one  mad,  George,"  he  said, 
as  he  joined  him,  "to  think  that  somewhere  among 
all  those  yachts  Miss  Greendale  may  be  held  a  pris- 
oner." 

"  I  can  quite  understand  that,  Major,  by  what  I 
feel  myself;  I  have  seen  so  much  of  Miss  Greendale, 
and  she  has  always  been  so  kind  to  me,  knowing  that 
you  considered  that  I  had  saved  your  life  and  knowing 
about  that  other  thing,  that  I  feel  as  if  I  could  do 
anything  for  her.  And  I  feel  it  all  the  more  because 
it  is  the  scoundrel  I  owed  such  a  deep  debt  to  before. 
But  I  hardly  think  that  she  can  be  on  board  one  of  the 
yachts  here." 

"  I  feel  convinced  that  she  is  not,  George ;  they 
could  hardly  keep  her  gagged  all  this  time,  and  at 
night  a  scream  would  be  heard  though  the  skylights 
were  closed." 

"  No,  sir ;  if  she  was  put  on  board  here  I  feel  sure 
that  they  would  have  got  up  sail  at  once." 

"  That  is  just  what  I  feel.  Likely  enough  they  had 
the  mainsail  already  up  and  the  chain  short,  and  di- 
rectly the  boat  was  up  at  the  davits  they  would  have 
got  up  the  anchor  and  been  off.  They  may  be  twenty 
miles  away  by  this  time;  though  whether  east  or  west 
one  has  no  means  of  even  guessing.  The  wind  is 
nearly  due  north,  and  they  may  have  gone  either  way, 
or  have  made  for  Cherbourg  or  Havre-  It  depends 
partly  upon  her  size;  if  she  is  a  small  craft,  they  can't 
get  far  beyond  that  range;  if  she  is  a  large  one,  she 
may  have  gone  anywhere.  The  worst  of  it  is  that  un- 
less we  can  get  some  clue  as  to  her  size  we  can  do 
absolutely  nothing.  A  good  many  yachts  went  off 
to-day  both  east  and  west,  and  by  the  end  of  the  week 
the  whole  fleet  will  be  scattered,  and  even  if  we  do 
get  the  size  of  the  yacht  I  don't  see  that  we  can  do 
anything  unless  we  can  get  her  name  too.  If  we  could 
do  that,  we  could  act  at  once;  I  should  run  up  to  town, 


178  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

lay  the  case  before  the  authorities  at  Scotland  Yard, 
and  get  them  to  telegraph  to  every  port  in  the  king- 
dom that  upon  her  putting  in  there  the  vessel  was  at 
once  to  be  searched  for  two  ladies  who  were  believed 
to  have  been  forcibly  carried  away  in  her." 

"  And  have  those  on  board  arrested,  I  suppose, 
Major?" 

"  Well,  that  would  have  to  be  thought  over,  George. 
Carthew  could  not  be  brought  to  punishment  without 
the  whole  affair  being  made  public;  that  is  the  thing 
above  all  others  to  be  avoided." 

"  Yes,  I  see  that,  sir ;  and  yet  it  seems  hard  that 
he  should  go  off  unpunished  again." 

"  He  would  not  go  unpunished,  you  may  be  sure," 
Frank  said,  grimly ;  "  for  if  the  fellow  ever  showed 
his  face  in  London  again  I  would  thrash  him  to  within 
an  inch  of  his  life.  However,  sure  as  I  feel,  it  is 
possible  that  I  am  mistaken.  Miss  Greendale  is  known 
to  be  an  only  daughter  and  an  heiress,  and  some  other 
impecunious  scamp  may  have  conceived  the  idea  of 
making  a  bold  stroke  for  her  fortune.  It  is  not  likely, 
but  it  is  possible." 

Until  morning  broke  the  two  men  paced  the  deck 
together.  Scarcely  a  word  was  spoken.  Frank  was 
in  vain  endeavouring  to  think  what  course  had  best 
be  taken,  if  the  search  for  the  men  of  the  Phantom 
turned  out  unavailing.  George  was  brooding  over  the 
old  wrong  he  had  suffered,  and  longing  to  avenge  that 
and  the  present  one. 

"  Thank  God,  the  night  is  over,"  Frank  said  at  last ; 
"  and  I  have  thoroughly  tired  myself.  I  have  thought 
until  I  am  stupid.  Kow  I  will  lie  down  on  one  of  the 
sofas  and  perhaps  I  may  forget  it  all  for  a  few  hours." 

Sleep,  however,  did  not  come  to  him,  and  at  seven 
o'clock  he  was  on  deck  again. 

"  The  men  went  ashore  at  six,  sir,"  the  skipper 
said.  "I  expect  they  will  be  back  again  before  long." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  170 

Ten  minutes  later  the  dingey  came  out  between  two 
yachts  ahead. 

"  Rawlins  is  not  on  board,"  the  skipper  said,  as 
they  came  close.  "I  told  him  to  send  off  the  instant 
they  got  any  news  whatever;  that  is  Simpson  in  the 
stern." 

"  Well,  Simpson,  what  news  ? "  Frank  asked  as  she 
rowed  alongside. 

"  Well,  sir,  we  have  found  out  as  how  all  the  Phan- 
tom's crew  are  ashore.  Some  of  the  chaps  told  us  that 
they  came  back  a  fortnight  ago,  the  crew  having  been 
paid  off.  Rawlins  said  that  I'd  better  come  off  and 
tell  you  that.  He  has  gone  off  to  look  one  of  them  up, 
and  bring  him  off  in  a  shore  boat.  He  knows  where  he 
lives,  and  I  expect  we  shall  have  him  alongside  in  a 
few  minutes." 

"  Do  you  think  that  is  good  news  or  bad,  sir  ? " 
George  Lechmere  asked. 

"  I  think  that  it  is  bad  rather  than  good,"  Frank 
said.  "  Before,  it  seemed  to  me  that  whatever  the 
craft  was  in  which  she  was  carried  away  she  would 
probably  be  transferred  to  the  Phantom,  which  might 
be  lying  in  Portland  or  in  Dover,  or  be  cruising  out- 
side the  island,  and  if  I  had  heard  nothing  of  the 
Phantom  I  should  have  searched  for  her.  However, 
I  suppose  that  the  scoundrel  thought  that  he  could  not 
trust  a  crew  of  Cowes  men  to  take  part  in  a  business 
like  this.  But  we  shall  know  more  when  Rawlins 
comes  off." 

In  half  an  hour  the  shore  boat  came  alongside  with 
Rawlins  and  a  sailor  with  a  Phantom  jersey  on. 

"  So  you  have  all  been  paid  off,  my  lad  ? "  Frank 
said  to  the  sailor  as  he  stepped  on  deck. 

"  Yes,  sir ;  it  all  came  sudden  like ;  we  had  ex- 
pected that  she  would  be  out  for  another  month  at 
least.  However,  as  each  man  got  a  month's  pay  we 
had  nothing  to  grumble  about;  although  it  did  seem 


180  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

strange  that  even  the  skipper  should  not  have  had  a 
hint  of  what  Mr.  Carthew  intended  till  he  called  him 
into  his  cabin  and  paid  him  his  money." 

"  And  where  is  she  laid  up  ?  " 

"  Well,  sir,  she  is  at  Ostend.  I  don't  know  whether 
she  is  going  to  be  hauled  up  there  or  only  dismantled 
and  left  to  float  in  the  dock.  The  governor  told  the 
skipper  that  he  thought  he  might  go  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean in  December,  but  that  till  then  he  should  not 
be  able  to  use  her.  It  seemed  a  rum  thing  leaving  her 
out  there  instead  of  having  her  hauled  up  at  Southamp- 
ton or  Gosport,  and  specially  that  he  should  not  have 
kept  two  or  three  of  us  on  board  in  charge.  But,  of 
course,  that  was  his  affair.  Mr.  Carthew  is  rather  a 
difficult  gentleman  to  please,  and  very  changeable-like. 
We  had  all  made  sure  that  we  were  going  to  race  here 
after  winning  the  Cup  at  Kyde ;  and,  indeed,  after  the 
race  he  said  as  much  to  the  skipper." 

"  Has  he  anyone  with  him  ?  "  Frank  asked. 

"  Only  one  gentleman,  sir;  I  don't  know  what  his 
name  was." 

"What  was  he  like?" 

"  He  was  a  smallish  man  and  thin,  and  didn't  wear 
no  hair  on  his  face." 

"  Thank  you ;  here  is  a  sovereign  for  your  trouble. 
That  is  something,  at  any  rate,  George,"  he  went  on, 
as  the  man  was  rowed  away.  "  The  whole  proceeding 
is  a  very  strange  one,  and  you  see  the  description  of 
the  man  with  Carthew  exactly  answers  to  that  of  the 
man  who  found  out  from  the  boat's  crew  that  Dr. 
Maddison  was  attending  Lady  Greendale ;  and  now  you 
see  that  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  Phantom  is  some- 
where near,  or  was  somewhere  near  yesterday  after- 
noon. Carthew  may  have  hired  a  foreign  crew  and 
sailed  in  her  a  couple  of  days  after  her  own  crew  came 
over,  or  he  may  have  hired  another  craft  either  abroad 
or  here.  At  any  rate,  there  is  something  to  do.  I  will 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  181 

go  up  to  town  by  the  mid-day  train  and  then  down  to 
Dover  and  cross  to  Ostend  to-night." 

"  Begging  your  pardon,  Major,  could  not  you  tele- 
graph to  the  harbour-master  at  Ostend,  asking  if  the 
Phantom  is  there  ?  " 

"  I  might  do  that,  George,  but  if  I  go  over  there 
I  may  pick  up  some  clue;  I  may  find  out  what  hotel 
he  stopped  at  after  the  crew  had  left,  and  if  so,  whether 
he  crossed  to  England  or  left  by  a  train  for  France, 
There  is  no  saying  what  information  I  may  light  on. 
You  stay  on  board  here;  you  can  be  of  no  use  to  me 
on  the  journey,  and  may  be  of  use  here.  I  will  tele- 
graph to  you  from  Ostend.  Possibly  I  may  want  the 
yacht  to  sail  at  once  to  Dover  to  meet  me  there,  or  you 
may  have  to  go  up  to  town  to  do  something  for  me. 
Now  I  must  go  down  and  tell  Lady  Greendale  as  much 
as  is  necessary.  It  will,  of  course,  be  the  best  thing 
for  her  to  go  up  to  town  with  me,  but  if  she  is  not  well 
enough  for  that,  of  course  she  must  stay  on  board." 

Lady  Greendale  had  just  come  into  the  saloon  when 
he  went  down. 

"  I  think  I  have  got  a  clue — a  very  faint  one,"  he 
said.  "  I  am  going  up  to  town  at  once  to  follow  it 
up.  How  are  you  feeling,  Lady  Greendale  ? " 

"  I  have  a  terrible  headache,  but  that  is  nothing. 
Of  course,  I  will  go  up  with  you." 

"But  do  you  feel  equal  to  it?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  quite,"  she  said,  feverishly.  "  What  is 
your  clue,  Frank  ?  " 

"  Well,  it  concerns  the  yacht  in  which  I  believe 
Bertha  has  been  carried  off.  At  any  rate,  I  feel  so 
certain  as  to  who  had  a  hand  in  it  that  I  have  no  hesi- 
tation in  telling  you  that  it  was  Carthew." 

"  Mr.  Carthew !  Impossible,  Frank.  He  always 
seemed  to  me  a  particularly  pleasant  and  gentlemanly 
man." 

"  He  might  seem  that,  but  I  happen  to  know  other 


182  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

things  about  him.  He  is  an  unmitigated  scoundrel. 
Of  course,  not  a  word  must  be  said  about  it,  Lady 
Greendale.  You  see,  that  for  Bertha's  sake  we  must 
work  quietly.  It  would  never  do  for  the  matter  to  get 
into  the  papers." 

"  It  would  be  too  dreadful,  Frank ;  I  do  think  that 
it  would  kill  me;  I  will  trust  it  in  your  hands  alto- 
gether. I  have  only  one  comfort  in  this  dreadful 
affair,  and  that  is  that  Bertha  has  Anna  with  her." 

"  That  is  certainly  a  great  comfort ;  and  it  is  some- 
thing in  the  man's  favour  that  when  he  enticed  her 
from  the  yacht  with  that  forged  letter  he  suggested 
that  she  should  bring  her  maid." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FRANK  MALLETT  and  Lady  Greendale  crossed  to 
Southampton  by  the  twelve  o'clock  boat,  and  arrived 
in  London  at  three. 

"  I  have  been  thinking,"  she  said,  as  they  went  up, 
"  that  it  will  be  better  for  me  to  stop  in  town.  I  shall 
have  less  difficulty  in  answering  questions  there  than 
I  should  have  at  home.  Everyone  is  leaving  now,  and 
in  another  week  there  will  be  scarcely  a  soul  in  Lon- 
don I  know;  and  I  shall  keep  down  the  front  blinds, 
and  no  one  will  dream  of  my  being  there.  I  shall  only 
have  to  mention  to  Bertha's  own  maid  that  my  daugh- 
ter has  remained  at  Cowes,  that  I  have  left  Anna  with 
her,  and  that  she  can  wait  upon  me  until  she  returns. 
There  will  be  another  advantage  in  it — you  can  see  me 
whenever  you  are  in  town.  I  shall  get  your  letters  a 
post  quicker  when  you  are  away,  and  you  can  telegraph 
to  me  freely;  whereas,  if  you  telegraphed  to  Chippen- 
ham,  whoever  received  the  message  there  might  men- 
tion its  contents  as  curious  to  someone  or  other,  and 
then,  of  course,  it  would  become  a  matter  of  common 
gossip." 

Frank  agreed  that  it  would  certainly  be  better  and 
more  bearable  than  having  to  answer  questions  about 
Bertha  to  every  visitor  who  called  on  her.  He  crossed 
that  evening  to  Ostend,  and  at  ten  o'clock  next  morn- 
ing George  Lechmere  received  the  following  message: 
"  Make  inquiries  as  to  small  brigantine  that  looked 
like  converted  yacht:  had  very  large  yards  on  fore- 
mast. I  saw  her  pass  Cowes  on  Tuesday  afternoon. 

183 


184  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

Let  Hawkins  go  to  Portsmouth  and  Southampton. 
Find  out  yourself  whether  she  anchored  between  Os- 
borne  and  Ryde;  if  not,  inquire  at  Seaview  whether 
she  passed  there  going  east.  Telegraph  result  to- 
morrow morning  to  my  chambers.  Shall  cross  again 
to-night." 

Lechmere  had  the  gig  at  once  lowered,  and  started, 
with  four  hands  at  the  oars,  eastward,  while  the  cap- 
tain went  ashore  in  the  dingey  to  leave  for  Southamp- 
ton by  the  next  boat.  The  tide  was  against  Lechmere, 
who,  keeping  close  in  round  the  point,  steered  the  boat 
along  at  the  foot  of  the  slopes  of  Osborne,  and  kept 
eastward  until  he  reached  the  coast-guard  station  at 
the  mouth  of  Wootton  creek. 

"  Oh,  yes,  we  noticed  her,"  the  boatswain  in  charge 
replied  in  answer  to  his  question ;  "  we  saw  her,  as  you 
say,  on  Tuesday  afternoon,  going  east;  we  could  not 
help  noticing  her,  for  she  was  something  out  of  the 
way.  We  should  not  have  thought  so  much  of  it  if 
she  had  not  come  back  again  just  before  dusk  the  next 
day,  and  anchored  a  mile  to  the  west.  We  kept  a  sharp 
look-out  that  night,  thinking  that  she  might  be  trying 
to  smuggle  some  contraband  ashore;  but  everything 
was  quiet,  and  next  morning  she  was  gone.  The  man 
who  was  on  the  watch  said  he  thought  that  he  made 
her  out  with  his  night-glass  going  east  at  about  eleven 
o'clock;  but  it  was  a  dark  night,  and  it  might  have 
been  a  schooner  yacht  or  a  brig." 

"  You  don't  happen  to  know  whether  she  stopped 
at  Ryde  the  first  time  she  passed  ? " 

"  Yes ;  having  been  all  talking  about  her,  we 
watched  to  see  if  she  was  going  to  anchor  there  or 
keep  on  to  the  east.  She  lowered  a  boat  as  she  passed, 
and  two  men  landed.  They  threw  her  up  into  the  wind 
and  waited  until  the  boat  came  off  again;  the  men 
did  not  come  back  in  her;  they  hoisted  the  boat  up 
again  and  went  east.  She  stopped  off  Seaview;  then 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  185 

she  came  back  and  sent  the  boat  ashore,  and  two  men 
went  off  in  her.  Of  course,  I  can't  say  whether  they 
were  the  same.  It  was  as  much  as  I  could  do  to  make 
out  that  there  were  two  of  them,  though  our  glass  is 
a  pretty  good  one.  Is  there  anything  wrong  about  the 
craft?" 

"  Not  that  I  know  of ;  but  there  was  a  good  deal 
of  curiosity  about  her  among  the  yachts,  she  being 
an  out-of-the-way  sort  of  craft;  and  I  fancy  there 
were  some  bets  about  her.  There  was  an  idea  that  she 
was  seen  going  west  two  days  later,  and  the  governor 
asked  me  to  take  the  boat  and  find  out  whether  she  had 
been  noticed  here  or  at  Ryde.  Thank  you  very  much 
for  your  information;  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  decide  any  bets  there  may  be  about  her." 

So  saying,  he  took  his  seat  in  the  gig  again  and 
rowed  back  to  the  Osprey.  The  skipper  returned  in 
the  evening. 

"  No  such  craft  has  gone  into  Southampton  or 
Portsmouth,"  he  said;  "so  I  have  had  my  journey 
for  nothing." 

"  No,  I  don't  think  you  have,"  George  replied.  "  It 
is  something  to  know  that  she  is  not  in  either  of  the 
ports  now,  and  has  been  to  neither  of  them." 

George  returned  in  time  to  send  off  a  full  account 
of  what  he  had  learned  from  the  coast-guardsman  by 
the  mail  that  would  be  delivered  in  London  that  night. 
On  his  return  to  town  the  next  morning,  Frank  found 
the  letter  awaiting  him,  and  at  ten  o'clock,  after  wiring 
to  Hawkins  and  the  steward  to  stock  the  yacht  at  once 
with  provisions  of  all  kinds  for  a  long  voyage,  he  went 
into  the  city  and  called  upon  the  secretary  at  Lloyd's. 

After  giving  his  name,  he  told  him  that  he  believed 
that  a  young  lady  had  been  carried  off  forcibly  in  the 
craft  which  he  minutely  described,  and  that  he  was 
desirous  of  having  a  telegram  sent  to  every  signal 
station  between  Hull  and  the  Land's  End,  asking  if 


186  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

such  a  craft  had  passed.  "  Of  course,"  he  added,  "  I 
am  ready  to  defray  the  expense  of  the  telegrams  and 
replies.  She  left  the  Solent  late  on  Wednesday  even- 
ing, and  on  Thursday  would  have  been  between  Beachy 
Head  and  Dover,  if  she  had  gone  that  way,  and  yester- 
day up  the  Thames  or  somewhere  between  Harwich 
and  Yarmouth." 

"  Well,  Major  Mallett,  if  you  will  sit  down  and 
write  the  telegram  with  the  description  that  you  have 
given,  I  will  send  it  off  at  once.  Then,  if  you  will 
call  again  in  an  hour's  time,  I  have  no  doubt  all  the 
answers  will  have  come  in." 

"Your  craft  has  gone  west,"  he  said  when  Frank 
returned.  "  All  the  answers  the  other  way  are  nega- 
tive. St.  Catherine  says :  '  Craft  answering  descrip- 
tion was  seen  well  out  at  sea  on  Thursday  morning.' 
Portland  noticed  her  in  the  afternoon,  and  she  was 
off  the  Start  yesterday  morning;  the  wind  was  light 
then;  and  the  Lizard  reports  seeing  her  this  morning. 
When  abreast  of  them,  she  headed  south,  apparently 
making  a  departure,  as  she  could  be  made  out  keep- 
ing that  course  as  long  as  seen.  These  are  the  four 
telegrams,  so  I  think  that  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  she  has  made  for  the  Mediterranean." 

"  Thank  you  very  much  indeed,"  Frank  said ;  "  can 
you  tell  me  if  I  have  any  chance  of  getting  similar 
information  from  the  south  ?  " 

"You  could  get  it  from  Finisterre  if  she  passed 
within  sight,  but  by  her  holding  on  as  far  west  as  the 
Lizard  instead  of  taking  a  departure  from  the  Start, 
it  is  likely  that  she  will  take  a  more  westerly  course, 
and  then  Cape  St.  Vincent  is  the  first  point  where 
she  is  likely  to  be  noticed.  If  not  there,  she  would 
probably  be  observed  at  Tarifa,  although,  if  she  kept 
on  the  southern  side  of  the  Straits,  she  might  not  be 
noticed.  I  should  think  that  she  would  do  so;  she 
would  not  be  likely  to  put  into  Gibraltar,  although, 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  187 

from  what  you  tell  me,  the  owner  would  believe  that 
no  suspicion  whatever  of  being  concerned  in  this  affair 
would  be  likely  to  rest  upon  him.  But  you  must  bear 
in  mind  that  it  is  probable  that  as  a  measure  of  pre- 
caution he  has  painted  out  the  white  streak,  sent  down 
the  yards  and  converted  her  into  a  fore-and-aft  schoon- 
er; in  which  case  she  would  attract  no  attention  what- 
ever if  she  passed  without  making  her  number." 

"  I  certainly  think  that  they  will  convert  her  back 
into  a  schooner  yacht,  as  otherwise  there  will  be  a  diffi- 
culty about  papers  whenever  she  enters  a  port.  There 
is  one  more  thing  I  wish  to  ask  you.  You  see,  she 
might  not  turn  into  the  Mediterranean ;  she  might,  for 
example,  make  for  the  West  Indies,  in  which  case  she 
would  be  almost .  certain  to  touch  at  Madeira  or 
Palmas." 

"Or  possibly  at  Teneriffe,  Major;  of  course,  we 
have  an  agent  at  each  of  these  places,  and  I  will  gladly 
request  them,  if  a  brigantiiie  or  schooner  looking  like 
her  puts  in  there,  to  find  out  if  possible  where  she  is 
bound  for,  and  to  let  you  know  at — shall  I  say  Gib- 
raltar? I  am  afraid  it  is  of  no  use  trying  to  get  the 
Portuguese  authorities  to  arrest  the  ship  or  to  search 
her.  You  see,  to  a  certain  extent  it  is  an  extradition 
case.  Still,  I  will  ask  them  to  get  it  done  if  possible, 
though  I  fear  that  it  is  quite  beyond  their  power." 

"  Thank  you  very  much  indeed ;  it  would  be  an  im- 
mense thing  only  to  find  out  that  she  has  gone  in  that 
direction.  Of  course,  she  may  not  put  in  at  any  of 
these  places,  as  she  is  sure  to  have  provisioned  for  a 
long  voyage,  but  at  any  rate  I  will  wait  at  Gibraltar 
until  I  get  the  letters,  unless  I  can  get  some  clue  that 
she  has  gone  up  the  Mediterranean.  Of  course,  if  I 
don't  hear  of  her  at  Cape  St.  Vincent  or  Tarifa,  I  shall 
try  Ceuta  and  Tangier.  If  she  goes  up  on  the  southern 
side  of  the  Straits,  she  may  anchor  off  either,  and  send 
a  boat  in  to  get  fresh  meat  and  fruit." 


188  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  The  Royal  mail  and  the  mail  down  the  African 
coast  will  start,  one  to-morrow,  the  other  on  Monday, 
and  I  will  send  letters  by  them  to  the  islands;  they 
are  sure  to  get  there  before  this  craft  that  you  are  in 
search  of,  and  our  agents  will  be  on  the  look-out  for 
her.  It  may  not  be  long  before  you  hear  from  Madeira, 
but  it  may  be  some  time  before  you  get  the  other  let- 
ters, as  the  craft  may  be  anything  between  three  weeks 
and  five  in  getting  there.  Of  course,  I  shall  mention 
when  she  sailed,  and  they  will  not  write  until  all 
chance  of  her  having  arrived  is  passed." 

"  Would  you  kindly  give  me  the  addresses  of  your 
three  agents?  I  will  wait  for  the  answer  from  Ma- 
deira, but  I  am  afraid  my  patience  will  never  hold 
out  until  the  others  can  come.  It  will  be  giving  the 
schooner  a  fearfully  long  start  as  it  is,  and  as  you  may 
suppose  I  shall  be  almost  mad  at  having  to  wait  and 
do  nothing." 

The  secretary  wrote  the  three  addresses,  and,  thank- 
ing him  very  warmly  for  his  kindness  and  courtesy, 
Frank  went  out  and  despatched  a  telegram  to  the 
skipper,  telling  him  to  engage  ten  extra  hands  at  once 
and  to  buy  muskets  and  cutlasses  for  the  whole 
crew. 

"  I  shall  come  down  by  the  twelve  o'clock  train 
from  town;  be  at  the  steamboat  pier  to  meet  me.  If 
all  is  ready,  shall  sail  at  once." 

Having  despatched  this,  he  drove  at  once  to  Lady 
Greendale's  and  told  her  that  he  had  learnt  that  the 
craft  in  which  Bertha  had  been  carried  off  had  sailed 
for  the  south,  probably  the  Mediterranean,  and  that  he 
should  start  that  evening  in  pursuit.  "  It  may  be  a 
long  chase,  Lady  Greemlale,  but  never  fear  but  that 
I  will  bring  her  back  safely.  It  will  be  for  you  to  de- 
cide whether  you  will  continue  to  remain  here  or  go 
down  into  the  country  after  a  time;  but,  of  course, 
there  is  no  occasion  for  you  to  make  up  your  mind 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  189 

now.  I  must  be  off  at  once,  for  I  have  several  things 
to  do  before  I  catch  the  twelve  o'clock  train." 

"  God  bless  you,  Frank !  "  she  said ;  "  you  are  look- 
ing terribly  worn  and  fagged." 

"  I  shall  be  all  right  when  I  am  once  fairly  off," 
he  said ;  "  I  have  not  had  an  hour's  sleep  for  the  last 
two  nights,  and  not  much  the  night  before.  At  first 
the  whole  thing  seemed  hopeless;  now  that  I  am  fairly 
on  the  track  and  know  what  I  have  to  do,  I  shall  soon 
be  all  right  again." 

"  I  don't  know  what  I  should  have  done  without 
you,  Frank;  and  I  do  believe  that  you  will  succeed." 

"  I  have  no  doubt  about  it,"  he  said ;  "  so  keep  your 
courage  up,  mother — for  you  know  that  you  are  almost 
that  to  me  now."  He  kissed  her  affectionately,  and 
then  hurried  downstairs  and  drove  to  his  chambers. 

Here  he  packed  a  portmanteau  with  Indian  suits 
and  underclothing,  took  his  pistol  and  rifle  cases,  drove 
to  a  gunmaker's  in  the  Strand  for  a  stock  of  ammuni- 
tion, called  at  his  bank  and  cashed  a  cheque  for  two 
thousand  pounds,  and  then  drove  to  Waterloo. 

Hawkins  and  George  Lechmere  were  on  the  land- 
ing-stage at  Cowes. 

"  How  are  things  going  on,  Hawkins  ? "  Frank 
asked,  as  he  came  across  the  gangway. 

"  All  right,  sir.  I  have  had  my  hands  pretty  full, 
sir,  since  I  got  your  second  telegram.  Lechmere  saw 
to  getting  the  arms.  Of  course,  he  could  not  help  me 
as  to  hiring  the  hands.  I  think  I  have  got  ten  first- 
class  men.  A  few  of  the  yachts  have  paid  off  already, 
and  I  know  something  about  all  of  those  I  have  en- 
gaged. While  I  was  ashore,  the  mate  looked  after  get- 
ting on  board  and  stowing  the  goods  as  they  came 
alongside." 

"  Quite  right,  Hawkins.  Did  you  think  of  ammuni- 
tion, George  ? " 

"Yee,  Major;  I  was  not  likely  to  forget  that;  I 
13 


190  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

got  twenty-five  muskets  and  cutlasses;  luckily  they 
kept  them  at  Pascal  Aikey's  for  the  use  of  steam  yachts 
going  out  to  the  east,  and  they  had  ammunition  too, 
so  I  got  fifty  rounds  for  each  musket.  It  is  not  likely 
that  we  shall  want  to  use  that  much,  but  it  is  best  to 
be  on  the  right  side." 

"  I  think,  sir,"  Hawkins  said,  "  as  it  is  going  to  be 
a  long  voyage,  and  as  we  have  doubled  our  crew,  that 
I  had  better  get  another  mate.  Purvis  is  a  very  good 
man,  but  he  is  no  navigator;  and  we  shall  have  to  keep 
watches  regularly.  I  met  an  old  shipmate  of  mine 
just  now  who  would  be  just  the  man.  He  commanded 
the  Amphitrite  for  ten  years,  and  I  know  that  he  is  a 
good  navigator.  He  has  been  up  in  the  Scotch  waters 
since  the  spring,  and  was  paid  off  last  week.  I  told 
him  that  it  might  be  that  I  could  give  him  a  berth 
as  second  mate,  and  he  jumped  at  it." 

"  By  all  means,  Hawkins ;  of  course  you  will  want 
an  officer  for  each  watch.  You  can  find  him  without 
loss  of  time,  I  hope." 

"Yes,  sir;  I  have  told  him  to  hang  about  outside 
the  gate  here,  and  I  would  give  him  an  answer." 

"  Very  well ;  when  you  have  seen  him  you  will  find 
me  at  Aikey's.  I  have  to  go  there  to  get  a  lot  of  charts ; 
I  have  only  those  for  British  waters.  George,  do  you 
see  to  getting  these  traps  down  to  the  boat;  I  shall 
be  there  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Is  there  anything 
else  that  you  can  think  of,  or  that  you  want  your- 
self?" 

"  Nothing,  sir." 

"  When  you  go  on  board  you  may  as  well  get  your 
traps  in  one  of  the  spare  cabins  aft;  you  had  better 
move  too,  captain.  You  and  one  of  the  mates  can 
have  the  stern  cabin;  for  the  present  the  other  mate 
can  have  yours,  and  the  steward  can  sleep  in  the  saloon. 
That  will  make  more  room  for  the  extra  hands  for- 
ward." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  It  will  be  a  tight  stow,  sir,"  the  captain  said.  "  I 
have  ordered  ten  more  hammocks  and  hooks,  but  I 
doubt  whether  there  will  be  room  to  sling  them  all." 

"  I  am  sure  there  won't,  Hawkins ;  you  had  better 
put  the  hooks  in  the  saloon  beams,  and  swing  five 
or  six  of  the  hammocks  there;  we  can  take  the  hooks 
out  and  stop  up  the  holes  when  we  don't  need  them 
any  longer.  We  may  be  having  hot  weather  before  we 
have  done,  and  I  don't  want  the  men  crowded  too 
closely  forward." 

Twenty  minutes  later  Frank  came  down  to  the  boat 
with  the  skipper,  carrying  a  large  roll  of  charts,  and  a 
man  with  a  handcart  containing  a  bundle  of  jerseys 
and  caps,  and  fifty  white  duck  trousers.  A  large  shore 
boat  was  alongside  when  they  reached  the  Osprey. 

"  Is  this  the  last  lot  ? "  the  captain  asked  the  man 
in  charge  of  the  pile  of  casks  and  boxes  with  which 
it  was  filled. 

"  Yes,  sir,  this  is  the  last  batch." 

"  Get  them  on  deck,  Hawkins,"  Frank  said,  "  and 
we  can  get  them  down  and  stowed  when  we  are  under 
sail.  Get  the  anchor  short  at  once,  the  sail  covers  off 
and  the  mainsail  up.  I  don't  want  to  lose  a  minute," 
he  went  on,  turning  to  George  Lechmere ;  "  I  know 
that  an  hour  or  even  a  day  will  make  no  material  dif- 
ference, but  I  am  in  a  fever  to  be  off." 

"Have  you  found  out  which  way  they  have  gone, 
Major?" 

"  I  have  found  out  that  they  have  sailed  for  the 
south,  but  whether  for  the  Mediterranean  or  for  the 
West  Indies  or  South  America  I  have  no  idea;  but 
I  have  some  hopes  of  finding  out  by  the  time  we  get 
to  Gibraltar." 

"  And  they  have  got  a  three  days'  start  of  us  ? " 

"  Yes,  I  can  hardly  believe  that  it  is  not  more. 
It  seems  to  me  a  fortnight  since  I  went  ashore  to  dine 
at  the  club.  Three  days  is  a  long  start,  and  unless  the 


192  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

change  of  rig  has  spoiled  her,  the  Phantom  is  as  fast, 
or  very  nearly  as  fast,  as  we  are.  We  can't  hope  to 
catch  her  up,  unless  she  stops  for  two  or  three  days  in 
a  port,  and  that  she  is  certain  not  to  do.  No,  I  don't 
think  that  there  is  any  chance  of  our  overtaking  her 
until  she  has  got  to  whatever  may  be  her  destination. 
Of  course,  what  Carthew  counts  upon  is  that,  in  time, 
he  will  get  Miss  Greendale  to  consent  to  marry  him. 
That  is  one  reason  why  I  think  that  he  will  not  go  up 
the  Mediterranean.  The  further  he  takes  her  the  more 
hopeless  the  prospect  will  seem  to  her." 

"  But  she  will  never  give  in,  Major,"  George  Lech- 
mere  said,  confidently. 

"  I  have  no  fear  of  that — no  fear  whatever,  and 
we  may  he  quite  sure  that  as  long  as  he  thinks  that 
he  will  be  able  to  tire  her  out  he  will  show  himself  in 
his  best  light,  and  try  to  make  everything  as  pleasant 
for  her  as  is  possible  under  the  circumstances.  It  is 
only  when  he  loses  all  hope  of  her  consenting  willingly 
that  he  will  show  himself  in  his  true  light;  and  you 
know,  George,  he  is  scoundrel  enough  for  anything. 
However,  I  consider  that  she  is  perfectly  safe  for  a 
long  time,  and  I  hope  to  be  alongside  the  craft  long 
before  he  becomes  desperate." 

Half  an  hour  later,  the  anchor  was  on  the  rail  and 
the  Osprey  started  on  her  voyage.  The  tide  being  in 
her  favour,  she  passed  the  Needles  just  as  it  was  get- 
ting dark.  The  breeze  fell  very  light,  and,  although 
every  stitch  of  canvas  was  put  on,  she  was  still  some 
miles  east  of  Portland  when  morning  broke.  As  the 
sun  rose  the  wind  freshened  a  bit,  and  she  moved 
faster  through  the  water.  The  hands  were  mustered 
and  divided  into  two  watches,  and  the  jerseys  and  red 
caps  served  out  to  the  new  hands. 

"You  had  better  give  them  the  whole  of  the  duck 
trousers,  to  fit  themselves  from,  captain,"  Frank  said. 
"  There  are  assorted  sizes,  you  know,  and  when  they 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  193 

have  suited  themselves  you  can  take  the  other  ten  pairs 
into  store.  You  and  the  mates  will  want  some  when 
we  get  into  warmer  climates." 

"  Are  we  bound  for  the  Mediterranean  ? "  Hawkins 
asked. 

"  To  Gibraltar,  to  begin  with.  What  we  shall  do 
afterwards  will  depend  upon  what  news  I  get  there. 
We  may  have  to  go  round  the  world,  for  all  I 
know." 

"  Well,  sir,  I  hope  not,  for  your  sake,  and  the  young 
lady's;  but  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  we  would  as 
lief  go  round  the  world  as  anything  else,  though  she  is 
not  a  very  big  craft  for  such  a  journey  as  that." 

"  How  long  will  the  water  tanks  hold  out  ?  " 

"  That  is  where  the  pinch  will  come  in,  sir.  I 
reckon  that  at  ordinary  times  we  might  make  shift  to 
go  on  for  three  weeks  without  filling  up,  but,  you  see, 
we  have  twenty  hands  instead  of  ten,  and  that  will 
make  all  the  difference.  I  did  get  ten  good-sized  casks 
yesterday  morning,  and  got  them  filled  as  well  as  the 
tanks.  They  are  stowed  away  forward,  but  they  won't 
improve  her  speed.  They  have  brought  her  head  down 
over  two  inches,  but,  of  course,  we  shall  use  the  water 
in  them  first." 

"  You  had  better  bring  them  amidships,  captain, 
and  stow  them  round  the  saloon  skylight.  Appear- 
ances are  of  no  consequence  whatever,  and  the  great 
thing  is  to  get  her  in  her  best  sailing  trim.  If  bad 
weather  comes  on,  we  must  put  half  in  the  bow  and 
half  in  the  stern,  where  we  can  wedge  them  in  tightly 
together.  It  would  not  do  to  risk  having  them  rolling 
about  the  decks.  Well,  then,"  he  went  on,  seeing  that 
the  captain  did  not  like  the  thought  of  having  weight 
at  each  end  of  the  yacht,  "  if  the  weather  gets  bad  we 
will  take  the  saloon  skylight  off,  and  lower  them  down 
into  it.  I  can  eat  my  meals  on  deck  or  in  my  state- 
room, but  the  water  we  must  keep.  If  we  get  a  spell  of 


194  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

head  winds  or  calms,  we  may  be  three  weeks  getting 
to  Gib." 

"  That  would  be  a  very  good  plan,  sir,  if  you  can 
do  without  the  saloon,  and  don't  mind  its  being  lit- 
tered up." 

"  Well,  I  hope  we  shan't  get  any  bad  weather  until 
we  get  well  across  the  bay,  Hawkins ;  I  don't  mind  the 
discomfort,  but  it  would  stop  her  speed;  we  want  a 
wind  that  will  just  let  us  carry  all  our  canvas.  We  can 
travel  a  deal  faster  so  than  we  can  in  heavy  weather, 
when  we  might  be  obliged  to  get  down  the  greater  part 
of  our  canvas  and  perhaps  to  lie  to.  It  looks  like  a 
strong  crew,  doesn't  it  ? "  he  went  on,  as  he  glanced 
forward. 

"  That  it  does,  sir ;  a  craft  of  this  size  can  do  well 
with  more  when  she  is  racing,  but  for  a  crew  it  is  more 
than  one  wants,  a  good  deal;  and  people  would  stare 
if  we  went  into  an  English  port.  Still,  I  don't  say 
that  it  is  not  an  advantage  to  be  strong-handed  if  we 
get  heavy  weather,  and  it  makes  light  work  of  getting 
up  sail  or  shifting  it,  and  one  wants  to  shift  pretty 
often  when  he  is  trying  to  get  high  speed  out  of  a 
craft." 

The  wind  continued  fitful,  and,  in  spite  of  having 
her  racing  sails,  the  Osprey's  run  to  the  Start  was  a 
long  one.  It  was  not  until  thirty-six  hours  after 
getting  up  anchor  that  they  were  abreast  of  the  light- 
house. 

"  I  try  to  be  patient,  George,"  Mallett  said,  "  but 
it  is  enough  to  make  a  saint  swear.  We  have  lost 
eight  or  ten  hours  instead  of  making  a  gain,  although 
we  had  the  advantage  of  coming  through  the  Needles 
passage,  while  they  had  to  go  round  at  the  back  of  the 
island  to  escape  observation." 

"  Yes,  sir,  but  you  know  we  have  often  found  that 
sometimes  one,  sometimes  another,  makes  a  gain  in 
these  shifty  winds ;  perhaps  to-morrow  we  may  be  run- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  195 

ning  along  fast  and  the  Phantom  be  lying  without  a 
breath  of  wind." 

"  That  is  so,  George ;  I  will  try  to  bear  it  in  mind. 
There,  you  see,  the  skipper  is  taking  the  exact  bear- 
ing of  the  lighthouse,  arid  we  shall  soon  be  heading 
south." 

In  five  minutes  the  captain  gave  the  order  to  the 
helmsman,  and  the  craft  was  then  laid  on  her  new 
course. 

"  The  wind  is  northing  a  bit,"  the  skipper  said  as, 
after  giving  the  helmsman  instructions,  he  came  up 
to  Frank.  "  It  has  shifted  two  points  round  in  the  last 
half-hour,  and  you  see  we  have  got  the  boom  off  a  bit; 
if  it  goes  round  a  point  more  we  will  get  the  square-sail 
ready  for  hoisting;  it  will  help  her  along  rarely  when 
the  head-sails  cease  to  be  of  any  good." 

Half  an  hotir  later  the  wind  had  gone  round  far 
enough  for  the  square-sail  to  be  used  to  advantage, 
and  it  was  accordingly  hoisted;  the  captain  then  had 
the  barrels  brought  aft  and  ranged  along  each  side  of 
the  bulwark. 

For  eight-and-forty  hours  the  Osprey  maintained 
her  speed,  leaving  all  the  sailing  vessels  she  overtook 
far  behind  her,  and  keeping  for  hours  abreast  of  a 
cargo  steamer  going  in  the  same  direction.  "  She  is 
bound  for  Finisterre,"  the  skipper  said,  "  and  we  shall 
pass  it  some  thirty  miles  to  the  west,  so  our  courses 
will  gradually  draw  apart;  but  we  shall  see  her  smoke 
anyhow  until  we  are  pretty  nigh  abreast  of  the  cape — 
that  is,  if  the  wind  holds  as  it  is  now.  It  is  falling 
lighter  this  afternoon." 

Two  or  three  hours  later  the  wind  died  away  alto- 
gether, the  square-sail  was  got  down,  and  the  skipper 
then  said:  "I  will  get  the  topsail  down,  too,  sir;  we 
can  easily  get  it  up  again,  and  I  will  put  a  smaller  jib 
on  her ;  I  don't  at  all  think  by  the  look  of  the  sky  that 
we  are  going  to  have  a  blow.  The  glass  would  have 


196  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

altered  more  if  we  were,  but  one  never  can  tell.  I 
would  not  risk  the  loss  of  a  spar  for  anything." 

"  I  should  think  that  you  might  put  a  couple  of 
reefs  in  the  mainsail,  Hawkins." 

"  Well,  perhaps  it  would  be  the  best,  sir ;  for  a  puff 
that  one  thinks  nothing  of  one  way  or  the  other  when 
a  craft  has  way  will  take  her  over  wonderfully  when 
it  catches  her  becalmed." 

Just  as  he  had  finished  his  dinner  the  captain  came 
down  and  asked  Frank  to  come  on  deck. 

"  There  is  a  steamer  bearing  down  on  us.  I  can  see 
both  her  side  lights,  and  as  she  is  coming  in  from  the 
west  she  may  not  notice  our  starboard  light.  It  is 
burning  all  right,  but  one  never  can  see  these  green 
lights;  they  are  the  deceiviiigest  things  at  a  distance. 
I  have  just  sent  down  for  the  man  to  bring  up  the  rid- 
ing light,  and  as  it  is  a  first-rate  one,  if  we  put  it  on 
deck  it  will  light  up  the  mainsail.  I  have  told  them  to 
bring  up  the  big  horn;  that  ought  to  waken  them  if 
anything  will." 

"  How  far  is  she  off  now,  Hawkins  ?  " 

"  About  a  mile  and  a  half,  Major.  There  are  no 
signs  of  her  altering  her  course,  as  she  ought  to  have 
done  by  this  time  if  she  had  made  us  out.  You  see, 
her  head  light  shows  up  fair  and  square  between  her 
side  lights,  which  shows  that  she  is  coming  as  near  as 
possible  on  to  us.  I  think  that  I  had  better  light  a 
blue  light." 

Frank  nodded.    The  blue  light  at  once  blazed  out. 

"  They  ought  to  see  that  if  they  are  not  all  asleep," 
Frank  said,  as  he  looked  up  at  the  sails  standing  out 
white  against  the  dark  sky. 

"  Set  to  work  with  that  foghorn,"  the  skipper  said ; 
and  a  man  began  to  work  the  bellows  of  a  great  fog- 
horn, which  uttered  a  roar  that  might  have  been  heard 
on  a  still  night  many  miles  away.  Again  and  again 
the  roar  broke  out. 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  197 

"  That  has  fetched  them,"  the  captain  said ;  "  she 
is  starboarding  her  helm  to  go  astern  of  us;  there, 
we  have  lost  her  red  light,  so  it  is  all  right.  How 
I  should  have  liked  to  have  been  behind  the  look-out 
or  the  officer  of  the  watch  with  a  marling-spike  or 
a  capstan  bar.  I  will  warrant  that  they  would  not  have 
nodded  when  on  watch  again  for  a  long  time  to  come. 
Here  she  comes;  she  is  closer  than  I  thought  she  was. 
She  will  pass  within  fifty  yards  of  the  stern.  It  is 
lucky  that  we  had  that  big  horn,  Major  Mallett,  for  if 
we  had  not  woke  them  up  when  we  did  she  would  have 
run  us  down  to  a  certainty." 

As  the  steamer  came  along,  scarcely  more  than  a 
length  astern  of  the  yacht,  a  yell  of  execration  broke 
from  the  sailors  gathered  forward. 

"  That  was  a  near  shave,  George,"  Frank  .Mallett 
said,  when  the  steamer  had  passed.  "  It  brought  me 
out  in  a  cold  sweat  at  the  thought  that  if  the  Osprey 
were  to  be  run  down  there  was  an  end  to  all  chance  of 
rescuing  Bertha  from  that  scoundrel's  clutches.  I 
don't  know  that  I  thought  of  myself  at  all;  I  am  a 
good  swimmer,  and  I  suppose  she  would  have  stopped 
to  pick  us  up.  It  was  the  Osprey  I  was  thinking  of; 
even  if  every  life  on  board  had  been  saved  I  don't  see 
how  we  could  have  followed  up  the  search  without  her." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THREE  hours  later  the  breeze  came.  Frank  was 
pacing  up  and  down  the  deck,  when  there  was  a  slight 
creak  above;  he  stopped  and  looked  up. 

"  Is  that  the  breeze  ?  "  he  asked  the  first  mate,  whose 
watch  it  was. 

"  I  think  so,  sir,  though  it  may  be  just  the  heaving 
from  a  steamer  somewhere.  I  don't  feel  any  wind; 
not  a  breath  from  any  quarter." 

There  was  another  and  more  decided  sound  above. 

"  There  is  no  mistake  this  time,"  the  mate  said, 
as  the  boom  which  had  been  hanging  amidships  slowly 
swung  over  to  port.  "  It's  somewhere  about  the  quar- 
ter that  we  expected  it  from,  and  coming  as  gently  as 
a  lamb." 

Five  minutes  later  there  was  sufficient  breeze  to 
cause  her  to  heel  over  perceptibly  as  she  moved  quietly 
through  the  water. 

"  Hands  aft  to  shake  out  the  reefs,"  the  mate 
called. 

The  order  was  repeated  down  the  fo'castle  hatch 
"by  one  of  the  two  men  on  the  look-out;  the  rest  of 
the  watch,  who  had  been  allowed  to  go  below,  tum- 
bled up. 

The  sailors  hastened  to  untie  the  reef  points.  All 
were  aware  of  the  nature  of  the  chase  in  which  they 
were  embarked.  The  whole  crew  were  full  of  ardour; 
they  felt  it  as  a  personal  grievance  that  the  young 
lady  to  whom  their  employer  was  engaged  had  not  only 
been  carried  off,  but  carried  off  from  the  deck  of  the 

198 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  199 

yacht.  Moreover,  she  was  very  popular  with  them,  as 
she  had  often  asked  them  questions  and  chatted  with 
them  when  at  the  helm  or  when  she  walked  forward; 
she  knew  them  all  by  name,  and  had  several  times 
come  off  from  shore  with  a  packet  of  tobacco  for  each 
man  in  her  basket.  She  had  been  quick  in  learning 
to  steer,  and  her  desire  to  know  everything-  about  the 
yacht  had  pleased  the  sailors,  who  were  all  delighted 
when  they  learned  of  her  engagement  to  the  owner.  The 
new  hands,  on  learning  the  particulars,  had  naturally 
entered  to  some  extent  into  the  feeling  of  the  others, 
and  the  alacrity  with  which  every  order  was  obeyed 
showed  the  interest  felt  in  the  chase.  As  soon  as  the 
reef  points  were  untied  came  the  order,  "  Slack  away 
the  reef  tackle,  and  see  that  the  earing  will  run  easy ; 
now  up  with  the  throat  halliard.  That  will  do;  now 
the  gaff  a  little  more;  belay  there.  Now  get  that  top- 
sail up  from  the  sail  locker;  we  won't  shift  jibs  just 
yet,  until  we  see  whether  the  breeze  is  going  to  fresh- 
en." 

It  was  not  long  before  the  increasing  heel  of  the 
craft  and  rustle  of  water  along  her  side  told  that  she 
was  travelling  faster. 

"  The  wind  is  freeing  her  a  bit,  sir ;  it  has  shifted 
a  good  half-point  in  the  last  ten  minutes." 

"  That  is  a  comfort,"  Frank  said ;  "  you  may  as  well 
heave  the  log;  I  should  like  to  know  how  she  is  going 
before  I  turn  in." 

"  Seven  knots,  sir,"  the  mate  reported ;  "  that  is 
pretty  fair,  considering  how  close-hauled  she  is." 

"  Well,  I  will  turn  in  now ;  let  me  know  if  there 
is  any  change." 

At  five  o'clock  Frank  was  on  deck  again.  Purvis 
was  in  charge  of  the  watch  now. 

"  Good  morning,  sir,"  he  said,  touching  his  hat  as 
Frank  came  up ;  "  we  are  going  to  have  a  fine  day,  and 
the  wind  is  likely  to  keep  steady." 


200  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  All  right,  Purvis ;  what  speed  were  we  going  when 
you  heaved  the  log  ? " 

"  Seven  and  a  half,  sir ;  Perry  tells  me  that  she 
has  been  doing  just  that  ever  since  the  wind  sprang 
up.  I  reckon  that  we  are  pretty  well  abreast  of  Finis- 
terre  now.  We  shall  have  the  sun  up  in  a  few  minutes, 
and  I  expect  that  it  will  come  up  behind  the  land. 
Lambert,  go  up  to  the  cross-tree  and  keep  a  sharp  look- 
out, as  the  sun  comes  up,  and  see  if  you  can  make 
land." 

"  I  can  make  out  the  land,  sir,"  the  sailor  called 
down  as  soon  as  he  reached  the  cross-tree ;  "  it  stands 
well  up.  I  should  say  that  you  can  see  it  from  deck." 

The  mate  and  Frank  walked  further  aft  and  looked 
out  under  the  boom;  the  land  was  plainly  visible 
against  the  glow  of  the  sky. 

"  There  it  is,  sure  enough,"  the  mate  said.  "  I 
looked  over  there  before  you  came  up  and  could  not 
make  it  out,  but  the  sky  has  brightened  a  lot  in  the 
last  ten  minutes.  I  should  say  that  it  is  about  five-and- 
twenty  miles  away ;  it  is  a  very  bold  coast,  sir.  That  is 
Finisterre  over  the  quarter;  you  see  the  land  breaks 
off  suddenly  there.  We  ought  to  have  made  out  the 
light,  but  of  course  it  is  not  very  bright  at  this  dis- 
tance, and  there  was  a  slight  mist  on  the  water  when  I 
came  up  at  eight  bells." 

"  I  suppose  in  another  forty-eight  hours  we  shall 
not  be  far  from  the  southern  point  of  Portugal." 

"  We  shall  be  there,  or  thereabouts,  by  that  time  if 
the  wind  keeps  the  same  strength  and  in  the  same  quar- 
ter. That  would  make  an  uncommonly  good  run  of  it, 
considering  that  we  were  lying  twenty-four  hours  be- 
calmed. If  it  had  not  been  for  that  we  should  have 
been  only  four  days  from  the  Start  to  St.  Vincent." 

The  mate's  calculations  turned  out  correct,  and  at 
seven  in  the  morning  they  anchored  a  mile  off  Cape 
St.  Vincent.  The  gig  was  lowered,  and  Frank  was 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  201 

rowed  ashore,  taking  with  him  a  signal  book  in  which 
questions  were  given  in  several  languages,  including 
Spanish.  He  had  purchased  it  at  Cowes  before  start- 
ing. The  signal  officer  was  very  polite,  and  fortunate- 
ly understood  a  little  English.  So  Frank  managed, 
with  the  aid  of  the  book,  to  make  him  understand  his 
questions.  No  craft  at  all  answering  to  the  descrip- 
tion had  been  noticed  passing  during  the  last  five  or 
six  days;  certainly  no  yacht  had  passed.  She  might, 
of  course,  have  gone  by  after  dark.  He  showed  Frank 
the  record  of  the  ships  that  had  been  sighted  going 
east,  and  of  those  that  had  made  their  numbers  as 
they  passed.  The  Phantom  was  not  among  the  latter, 
nor  did  the  rig  or  approximate  tonnage  as  guessed  of 
any  of  the  others  at  all  correspond  with  hers.  After 
thanking  the  officer,  Frank  returned  to  his  boat,  and 
half  an  hour  later  the  Osprey  was  again  under  weigh. 

At  Ceuta,  Tarifa,  and  Tangier  there  was  a  similar 
want  of  success.  Such  a  craft  might  have  passed,  but 
if  so  she  was  either  too  far  away  to  be  noted  or  had 
passed  during  the  night.  From  Tangier  he  crossed 
to  Gibraltar,  and  anchored  among  the  shipping  there. 
So  far  everything  had  gone  to  confirm  his  theory  that 
the  Phantom  would  not  go  up  the  Mediterranean;  of 
course,  she  might  have  passed  the  three  places  as  well 
as  St.  Vincent  at  night,  or  have  kept  so  nearly  in  the 
middle  of  the  Strait  as  to  pass  without  being  remarked. 
Still,  the  chances  were  against  it,  and  he  regarded  it 
as  almost  certain  that  she  would  have  put  into  one  or 
other  of  the  African  ports  as  she  passed  them  for  water, 
fresh  meat  and  fruit. 

It  was  six  days  after  the  Osprey  passed  St.  Vin- 
cent before  she  anchored  off  Gib.  She  had  made  her 
number  as  she  came  in,  and  in  a  short  time  the  health 
officer  came  out  in  a  boat.  The  visit  was  a  formal 
one ;  the  white  ensign  on  her  taffrail  was  in  itself  suf- 
ficient to  show  her  character  and  that  she  must  have 


202  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

come  straight  from  England,  and  the  questions  asked 
were  few  and  brief. 

"  We  are  ten  days  out,"  Frank  said ;  "  we  have 
touched  at  Tarifa,  Ceuta,  and  Tangier,  but  that  is  all. 
The  crew  are  all  in  good  health;  here  is  the  list  of 
them  if  you  wish  to  examine  them." 

"  As  a  matter  of  formality  it  is  better  that  it  should 
be  done,"  the  health  officer  said. 

"  I  will  order  them  to  muster,"  Frank  said,  "  and 
while  they  are  doing  so,  will  you  come  below  and  take 
a  glass  of  wine?  Can  you  tell  me  if  a  craft  about  this 
size,  a  schooner  or  brigantine,  has  put  in  here  during 
the  last  fortnight?  I  don't  know  whether  she  is 
still  flying  yacht  colours  or  hus  gone  into  trade,  but 
at  any  rate  you  could  see  at  once  that  she  had  been 
a  yacht." 

"  Certainly  no  such  craft  has  put  in  here,  Major 
Mallett;  yours  is  the  first  yacht  that  has  come  round 
this  season,  and  as  I  board  every  vessel  that  anchors 
here,  I  should  certainly  have  noticed  any  trader  that 
had  formerly  been  a  yacht.  The  decks  and  fittings 
would  tell  their  story  at  once.  Do  you  know  her 
name  ? " 

"  I  don't  know  much  about  her,"  Frank  said,  "  but 
a  craft  of  that  kind  sailed  from  Cowes  a  day  or  two 
before  I  started,  and,  as  I  believe,  for  the  Mediter- 
'ranean.  Being  about  our  own  size  and  heavily  sparred 
for  a  schooner,  I  was  rather  curious  to  know  if  I  had 
beaten  her.  We  did  not  make  her  out  as  we  came 
along." 

"  You  must  have  passed  her  in  the  night,  I  should 
say,  unless,  as  is  likely  enough,  she  did  not  put  in,  but 
kept  eastward." 

As  Frank  had  touched  at  Gibraltar  three  times 
before,  the  place  had  no  novelty  for  him.  He,  however, 
went  ashore  at  once  to  make  arrangements  for  filling 
up  again  Avith  water.  The  steward  and  George  Lech- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  203 

mere  accompanied  him  into  the  town  to  purchase  fresh 
meat,  fruit  and  vegetables. 

Frank  then  made  his  way  to  the  post  office.  He 
was  scarcely  disappointed  at  finding  that  there  was 
nothing  for  him  as  yet. 

The  next  three  days  he  spent  in  wandering  rest- 
lessly over  the  Rock.  As  long  as  the  Osprey  was  under 
weigh  and  doing  her  best  he  was  able  to  curb  his  anx- 
iety and  impatience;  but  now  that  she  was  at  anchor 
he  felt  absolutely  unable  to  remain  quietly  on  board. 
Several  officers  of  his  acquaintance  came  off  to  the  Os- 
prey, and  he  was  invited  to  dine  at  their  mess  dinner 
every  night.  He,  however,  declined. 

"  The  fact  is,  my  dear  fellow,"  he  said  to  each,  "  I 
am  at  present  waiting  with  extreme  anxiety  for  news 
of  a  most  important  nature,  and  until  I  get  it  I  am  so 
restless  and  so  confoundedly  irritable  that  I  am  not 
fit  to  associate  with  anyone.  When  I  look  in  here 
again  I  hope  that  it  will  be  all  right,  and  then  I  shall 
be  delighted  to  come  to  you  and  have  a  chat  over  our 
Indian  days,  but  at  present  I  really  am  not  up  to  it." 

His  appearance  was  sufficient  to  testify  that  his 
plea  was  not  a  fictitious  excuse. 

On  the  fourth  day  he  found  a  letter  awaiting  him 
at  the  post  office.  He  tore  it  open,  and  read :  "  Funchal, 
Madeira,  August  30.  Sir:  At  the  request  of  Mr. 
Greenwood  I  beg  to  inform  you  that  a  brigantine,  pre- 
cisely answering  to  the  description  given  me,  anchored 
in  the  roads  here  on  the  21st.  She  only  remained  a  few 
hours  to  take  in  water  and  stores.  I  was  at  the  landing- 
place  when  the  master  came  on  shore;  he  said  that 
they  had  had  a  wonderfully  fast  voyage  from  England, 
having  come  from  the  Lizard  under  seven  days,  and 
holding  a  leading  wind  all  the  way.  She  was  flying 
the  Belgian  flag,  and  I  learned  from  the  Portuguese 
official  who  visited  her  that  her  papers  were  all  in 
order,  and  that  she  had  been  purchased  at  Ostend  from 


204  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

an  Englishman  only  three  weeks  before,  and  had  been 
named  the  Dragon.  He  did  not  remember  what  her 
English  name  had  been.  Most  unfortunately  she  had 
left  a  few  hours  before  the  mail  steamer  came  in,  bring- 
ing me  the  letter  from  Lloyd's.  I  do  not  know  that  I 
could,  in  any  case,  have  stopped  her,  but  I  think  that 
I  could  have  got  the  officials  to  have  searched  her,  and 
if  the  ladies  had  been  on  board,  and  had  appealed  to 
them  for  protection,  I  think  the  vessel  would  certainly 
have  been  detained,  or,  at  any  rate,  the  authorities 
would  have  insisted  upon  the  ladies  being  set  on  shore. 
Her  papers  had  the  Cape  as  her  destination,  though 
this  may,  of  course,  have  been  only  a  blind.  I  regret 
much  that  I  am  unable  to  give  you  further  informa- 
tion, beyond  the  fact  that  there  were  two  male  passen- 
gers on  board.  I  shall  be  happy  to  reply  to  any  com- 
munication I  may  receive  from  you." 

Frank  hurried  down  to  the  landing-place. 

"  Lay  out,  men,"  he  said,  "  I  want  to  be  under  way 
in  a  quarter  of  an  hour."  The  men  bent  to  their  oars, 
and  the  gig  flew  through  the  water.  There  was  no 
one  on  shore,  for  Frank  had  given  strict  orders  that 
no  one  was  to  land  of  a  morning  until  he  returned 
from  the  post  office. 

"  Get  under  way  at  once,"  he  called  to  the  captain, 
as  soon  as  he  came  within  hailing  distance.  There 
was  an  instant  stir  on  board.  Some  of  the  men  ran 
to  the  capstan,  others  began  to  unlace  the  sail  covers, 
while  some  gathered  at  the  davits  to  hoist  the  boat  up 
directly  she  came  alongside. 

"  I  have  news,  lads,"  Frank  said,  in  a  loud  voice, 
as  he  stepped  on  board.  "  She  has  touched  at  Ma- 
deira." 

There  was  a  cheer  from  the  men.  It  was  some- 
thing to  know  that  a  clue  had  been  obtained,  and  in 
a  wonderfully  short  time  the  Osprey  was  under  way 
and  heading  for  the  point  of  the  bay. 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  205 

"Then  they  did  not  stop  them  there,  Major?" 
George  Lechmere  asked,  after  Frank  had  stated  the 
news. 

"  No,  the  mail  did  not  arrive  with  the  letter  in  time 
for  Lloyd's  agent  to  act  upon  it.  The  Phantom  had 
sailed  some  hours  before.  She  is  still  under  her  square 
yards,  and  her  name  has  been  changed  to  the  Dragon. 
She  was  there  on  the  21st,  and  the  letter  is  dated  the 
30th." 

"  And  to-day  is  the  6th,"  George  said.  "  So  he  has 
fifteen  days'  start  of  us,  besides  the  distance  to  Ma- 
deira." 

"  Yes,  she  must  be  among  the  West  Indies  long 
before  we  can  hope  to  overtake  her — there,  or  at  some 
South  American  port." 

"  Then  you  have  learnt  for  certain  that  she  has 
gone  that  way,  Major?" 

"It  is  not  quite  certain,  but  I  have  no  doubt 
about  it.  Her  papers  say  that  she  is  bound  for  the 
Cape,  which  is  quite  enough  to  show  me  that  she  is 
not  going  there.  I  think  it  is  the  West  Indies  rather 
than  South  America,  for  if  she  went  to  any  Brazilian 
port  or  Monte  Video,  or  Buenos  Ayres,  she  would  be 
much  more  likely  to  attract  attention  than  she  would 
in  the  West  Indies,  where  there  are  scores  of  islands 
and  places  where  she  could  cruise  or  lie  hidden  as  long 
as  she  liked.  Yes,  I  have  no  doubt  that  is  her. .destina- 
tion. It  is  a  nasty  place  to  have  to  search,  but  sooner 
or  later  we  ought  to  be  able  to  find  her.  Fortunately 
the  negroes  pretty  nearly  all  speak  English,  Spanish, 
or  French,  and  we  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  getting 
information  wherever  there  is  any  information  to  be 
had." 

Four  days  later  the  Osprey  anchored  off  Funchal. 

The  dingey  at  once  put  off  with  six  water  casks,  and 

Frank  was  rowed  ashore  in  the  gig,  and  had  a  talk 

with  his  correspondent.    The  latter,  however,  could  give 

14 


206  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

him  no  more  information  than  had  been  contained  in 
his  letter,  except  that  the  white  streak  had  been  painted 
out,  and  that  the  craft  carried  fourteen  hands,  all  of 
whom  were  foreigners.  He  could  give  no  information 
as  to  whether  she  would  be  likely  to  touch  at  either 
the  Canaries  or  the  Cape  de  Verde  Islands,  but  was 
inclined  to  think  that  she  would  not. 

"  They  took  a  very  large  stock  of  water  on  board," 
he  said,  "  and  a  much  larger  amount  of  meat,  vege- 
tables and  fruit  than  they  would  have  required  had 
they  intended  to  put  in  there,  and  meat  is  a  good  deal 
dearer  here  than  it  would  be  at  St.  Vincent,  or  even 
Teneriffe.  I  should  think  from  this  that  they  had  no 
intention  of  putting  in  there,  though  they  might  touch 
at  St.  Helena  or  Ascension,  if  they  are  really  on  their 
way  to  the  Cape.  But  after  what  you  tell  me  I  should 
think  that  your  idea  that  they  have  made  for  the  West 
Indies  is  the  correct  one.  I  should  say  that  they  were 
likely  to  lie  up  in  some  quiet  and  sheltered  spot  there, 
for  it  is  the  hurricane  season  now,  and  no  one  would 
be  cruising  about  among  the  islands  if  he  could  help 
it.  There  are  scores  of  places  where  he  could  lie  in 
shelter  and  no  one  be  any  the  wiser,  except,  perhaps, 
negro  villagers  on  the  shore." 

"  Yes,  I  should  think  that  is  what  he  would  do," 
Frank  agreed.  "  How  long  does  the  hurricane  season 
last?" 

"  The  worst  time  is  between  the  middle  of  Septem- 
ber and  the  middle  of  November,  but  you  cannot  de- 
pend upon  settled  weather  until  the  new  year  begins." 

"  Well,  hurricane  or  no  hurricane,  I  shall  set  out 
on  the  search  as  soon  as  I  get  over  there." 

Two  hours  later  the  Osprey  was  again  on  her  way. 
The  breeze  was  fresh  and  steady,  and  with  her  square- 
sail  set  and  her  mizzen  furled  she  ran  along  at  over 
nine  knots  an  hour.  One  day  succeeded  another  with- 
out there  being  the  least  occasion  to  make  any  shift 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  207 

in  the  canvas,  and  it  was  not  until  they  were  within 
a  day's  sail  of  Porto  Rico  that  the  wind  dropped  almost 
suddenly.  Purvis  at  once  ran  below. 

"  The  glass  has  fallen  a  long  way  since  I  looked  at 
it  at  breakfast,"  he  said,  as  he  returned. 

"  Then  we  are  in  for  a  blow,"  the  skipper  said ;  "  I 
am  new  to  these  latitudes,  but  wherever  you  are  you 
know  what  to  do  when  there  is  a  sudden  lull  in  the 
wind  and  a  heavy  fall  in  the  glass.  Now,  lads,  get  her 
canvas  off  her." 

"All  down,  captain?"     t 

"Every  stitch.  Andrews,  do  you  and  two  others 
get  down  into  the  sail  locker  and  bring  up  the  storm 
jib,  the  small  foresail,  trysail,  and  storm  mizzen; 
if  it  is  a  tornado,  we  shan't  want  to  show  much  sail 
to  it." 

"If  we  are  going  to  have  a  tornado,  captain,  I 
should  recommend  that  you  get  the  mainsail  loose 
from  the  hoops,  put  the  cover  on,  roll  it  up  tightly  to 
the  gaff  and  lash  it  to  the  bulwarks  on  one  side,  and 
get  the  boom  off  and  lash  it  on  the  other  side." 

"  That  will  be  a  very  good  plan ;  the  lower  we  get 
the  weight  the  better." 

When  this  was  done  the  topmast  was  also  sent  down 
and  lashed  by  the  sail;  the  barrels,  which  were  now  all 
empty,  were  lowered  down  into  the  saloon,  while  the 
trysail  was  fastened  to  the  hoops  ready  for  hoisting, 
and  all  the  reefs  tied  up.  A  triangular  mizzen  was 
then  hoisted,  and  a  storm  jib. 

"  We  won't  get  up  the  foresail  at  present,"  the  cap- 
tain said;  "I  have  reefed  it  right  down,  sir,  but  I 
won't  hoist  it  until  we  have  got  the  first  blow  over." 

"  You  had  better  see  that  everything  is  well  se- 
cured on  deck,  and  if  I  were  you  I  would  put  the  jib 
in  stops;  we  can  break  it  out  when  we  like;  but  from 
all  accounts  the  first  burst  of  these  tornadoes  is  ter- 
rific. I  should  leave  the  mizzen  on  her ;  that  will  bring 


208  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

her  head  up  to  it,  whichever  way  it  comes,  and  she  will 
lie  to  under  that  and  the  jib." 

"  Yes,  sir ;  but  it  is  likely  enough  that  we  shall 
have  to  sail.  I  have  been  reading  about  the  tornadoes. 
I  picked  up  a  book  at  Cowes  the  day  we  sailed,  when 
I  saw  that  you  were  ordering  the  charts  of  these  seas, 
and  have  learnt  what  is  the  proper  thing  to  do.  The 
wind  is  from  the  southeast  at  present,  which  means 
that  the  centre  of  the  hurricane  lies  to  the  southwest. 
If  the  wind  comes  more  from  the  east,  as  long  as  we 
can  sail  we  are  to  head  northwest  or  else  lie  to  on  the 
port  tack;  if  it  shifts  more  to  the  south,  we  are  to  lie 
to  on  the  starboard  tack." 

"  That  sounds  all  right,  Hawkins ;  it  is  very  easy 
to  describe  what  ought  to  be  done,  but  it  is  not  so  easy 
to  do  it  when  you  are  in  a  gale  that  is  almost  strong 
enough  to  take  her  mast  out  of  her.  I  will  tell  you 
what  I  would  do.  I  .would  break  up  a  couple  of  those 
casks,  and  nail  the  staves  over  the  skylights,  and  then 
nail  tarpaulins  over  them.  I  have  no  fear  whatever 
about  her  weathering  the  gale,  but  I  expect  that  for  a 
bit  we  shall  be  more  under  water  than  above  it.  I  see 
Perry  is  getting  the  two  anchors  below;  that  will  help 
to  ease  her.  At  any  rate  she  will  be  in  good  fighting 
trim.  I  think  we  began  none  too  soon ;  there  is  a  thick 
mist  over  the  sky,  and  it  looks  as  dark  as  pitch  ahead." 

"  There  is  only  one  thing  more,  sir,"  and  the  cap- 
tain shouted,  "All  hands  get  the  boats  on  deck,  and 
see  that  they  are  lashed  firmly.  Will  you  see  to  getting 
in  the  davits  out  of  the  sockets,  Purvis,  and  getting 
them  below?  I  ought  to  have  done  that  before,"  he 
went  on,  apologetically,  "but  I  did  not  think  of  it. 
However,  with  such  a  strong  crew  it  won't  take  five 
minutes,  and  we  have  got  that  and  something  to  spare, 
I  think." 

"  You  have  got  the  bowsprit  reefed,  Hawkins  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir;  full  reefed." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  There  is  only  one  thing  more  that  I  can  suggest. 
I  fancy  that  these  tornadoes  begin  with  heavy  light- 
ning. Get  those  wire  topmast  stays,  and  twist  them 
tightly  round  the  shrouds  and  lash  them  there,  leav- 
ing the  ends  to  drop  a  fathom  or  two  in  the  water. 
In  that  way  I  don't  think  that  we  need  be  afraid  of  the 
lightning.  If  it  strikes  us  it  will  run  down  the  wire 
shrouds,  and  then  straight  into  the  water." 

In  five  minutes  all  was  in  readiness,  the  boats  se- 
curely lashed  on  deck,  the  davits  down  below,  and  the 
lightning  protectors  tied  tightly  to  the  wire  shrouds. 

"  Now,  captain,  I  think  we  have  done  all  that  we 
can  do.  What  are  you  doing  now  ?  " 

"I  am  running  a  life-line  right  round  her,  sir;  it 
may  save  more  than  one  life  if  the  seas  make  a  sweep 
of  her." 

"You  are  right,  captain;  these  eighteen-inch  bul- 
warks are  no  great  protection." 

Four  sailors  speedily  lashed  a  three-inch  rope  four 
feet  above  the  deck,  from  the  forestay  round  the 
shrouds  and  aft  to  the  mizzen,  hove  as  tight  as  they 
could  get  it  and  then  fastened.  While  this  was  being 
done  one  of  the  mates  cut  up  a  piece  of  two-inch  rope 
into  several  foot  lengths,  and  gave  one  to  each  of  the 
men  and  officers,  including  Frank  and  George  Lech- 
mere. 

"  If  you  tie  the  middle  of  that  round  your  chest 
under  the  arms,  you  will  have  the  two  ends  ready  to 
lash  yourself  to  windward  when  it  gets  bad;  a  couple 
of  twists  round  anything  will  keep  you  safe,  however 
much  water  may  come  over  her." 

"Do  you  mean  to  stay  on  deck,  sir?"  the  skipper 
asked.  "  You  won't  be  able  to  do  any  good,  and  the 
fewer  hands  there  are  on  deck  the  less  there  will  be  to 
be  anxious  about.  I  shall  only  keep  four  hands  for- 
ward after  the  first  burst  is  over,  and  they  will  be 
lashed  to  the  shrouds.  Purvis  will  be  there  with  them. 


210  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

Perry  and  Andrews  will  take  the  helm,  and  I  shall 
stay  with  them.  We  have  battened  the  fore  hatch 
down.  One  of  the  men  will  be  in  the  after  cabin,  and 
if  I  want  to  hoist  the  trysail  or  make  any  change  I 
shall  give  three  knocks,  and  that  will  be  a  signal  for 
them  to  send  half  a  dozen  hands  up.  They  will  come 
through  the  saloon  and  up  the  companion.  We  shan't 
be  able  to  open  the  fore  hatch." 

"  Very  well,  skipper ;  I  will  go  down  when  the 
hands  do.  We  are  going  to  have  it  soon." 

It  was  now  indeed  so  dark  that  he  could  scarcely 
see  the  face  of  the  man  he  was  speaking  to.  "  I  really 
think,  captain,  that  I  should  send  some  of  them  down 
below  at  once.  If  a  flash  of  lightning  were  to  strike 
the  mast,  it  would  probably  go  down  the  shrouds  harm- 
lessly, but  might  do  frightful  damage  among  the  men, 
crowded  as  they  are  up  here,  or  it  might  blind  some 
of  them.  Besides,  the  weight  forward  is  no  trifle." 

"  I  think  that  you  are  right,  sir,"  and,  raising  his 
voice,  the  captain  shouted,  "  All  hands  below  except  the 
four  men  told  off;  go  down  by  the  companion." 

"  Would  you  mind  their  stopping  in  the  saloon, 
sir?  It  would  make  her  more  lively  than  if  they  all 
went  down  into  the  fo'castle." 

"  Certainly  not,  captain ;  "  and  accordingly  the  men 
were  ordered  to  remain  in  the  saloon. 

"  You  can  light  your  pipes  there,  my  lads,"  Frank 
said,  as  they  went  down,  "  and  make  yourselves  as 
comfortable  as  you  can." 

The  last  man  had  scarcely  disappeared  when  the 
captain  said: 

"  Look  there,  Major  Mallett,"  and  looking  up  Frank 
saw  a  ball  of  phosphorescent  light,  some  eighteen  inches 
in  diameter,  upon  the  mast-head,. 

"Plenty  of  electricity  about,"  he  said,  cheerfully: 
"  if  they  are  all  as  harmless  as  that  it  won't  hurt  us." 

But  as  he  ceased  speaking  there  was  a  crash  of 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  211 

thunder  overhead  that  made  the  whole  vessel  quiver, 
and  at  the  same  instant  a  flash  of  lightning,  so  vivid, 
that  for  a  minute  or  two  Frank  felt  absolutely  blinded. 
Without  a  moment's  intermission,  flash  followed  flash, 
while  the  crashes  of  thunder  were  incessant. 

"  I  think  that  plan  of  yours  has  saved  the  ship, 
sir,"  the  captain  said,  when,  after  five  minutes,  the 
lightning  ceased  as  suddenly  as  it  had  begun.  "  I  am 
sure  that  a  score  of  those  flashes  struck  the  mast,  and 
yet  no  damage  has  been  done  to  it,  so  far  as  I  could 
see  by  the  last  flash.  Are  you  all  right  there,  Pur- 
vis?" 

"  All  right,"  the  mate  replied ;  "  scared  a  bit,  I 
fancy.  I  know  I  am  myself,  but  none  the  worse 
for  it." 

"  It  is  coming  now,  sir,"  the  captain  said.  "  Lis- 
ten." 

Frank  could  hear  a  low,  moaning  noise,  rapidly 
growing  louder,  and  then  he  saw  a  white  line  on  the 
water  coming  along  with  extraordinary  velocity. 

"  Hard  down  with  the  helm,  Perry,"  the  captain 
said. 

"  Hard  down  it  is,  sir." 

"  Hold  on  all ! "  the  captain  shouted. 

A  few  seconds  later  the  gale  struck  them.  The 
yacht  shook  as  if  in  a  collision,  and  heeled  over  till 
the  water  was  half  up  her  deck.  Then  the  weight  of 
her  lead  ballast  told,  and  as  the  pressure  on  the  mizzen 
did  its  work,  she  gradually  came  up  to  the  wind,  get- 
ting on  to  an  almost  even  keel  as  she  did  so. 

"  Break  out  the  jib  and  haul  in  the  weather  sheet," 
the  captain  shouted. 

Purvis  was  expecting  this,  and  although  he  did  not 
hear  the  words  above  the  howl  of  the  storm,  at  once 
obeyed  the  order. 

"  There  she  is,  sir,  lying-to  like  a  duck,"  the  skipper 
shouted  in  Frank's  ear ;  "  and  none  the  worse  for  it. 


212  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

An  ordinary  craft  would  have  turned  turtle,  but  I  have 
Been  her  as  far  over  when  she  has  been  racing." 

"  Well,  I  will  go  below  now,  Hawkins,"  Frank 
shouted  back ;  "  it  is  enough  to  blow  the  hair  off  one's 
head.  Come  down,  George,  with  me;  you  can  be  of  no 
nse  here." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

FOR  eight  hours  the  Osprey  struggled  with  the 
storm.  The  sea  swept  over  her  decks,  and  the  dingey 
was  smashed  into  fragments,  but  the  yacht  rode  with 
far  greater  ease  than  an  ordinary  vessel  would  have 
done,  as,  save  for  her  bare  mast,  the  wind  had  no  hold 
upon  her.  There  were  no  spars  with  weight  of  furled 
sails  to  catch  the  wind  and  hold  her  down;  she  was 
in  perfect  trim,  and  her  sharp  bows  met  the  waves  like 
a  wedge,  and  suffered  them  to  glide  past  her  with 
scarce  a  shock,  while  the  added  buoyancy  gained  by 
reefing  the  bowsprit  and  getting  the  anchors  below 
lifted  her  over  seas  that,  as  they  approached,  seemed 
as  if  they  would  make  a  clean  sweep  over  her. 

From  time  to  time  Frank  went  up  for  a  few  min- 
utes, lashing  himself  to  the  runner  to  windward.  The 
three  men  at  the  helm  were  all  sitting  up,  lashed  to 
cleats,  and  sheltering  themselves  as  far  as  they  could 
by  the  bulwarks.  Movement  toward  them  was  impos- 
sible. Beyond  a  wave  of  the  hand,  no  communication 
could  be  held.  Frank  could  not  have  ventured  out  had 
he  not,  before  going  down  below  for  the  first  time, 
stretched  a  rope  across  the  deck  in  front  of  the  com- 
panion, so  that  before  going  out  he  obtained  a  firm 
grasp  of  it,  and  was  by  its  assistance  able  to  reach  the 
side  safely.  Each  time  he  went  out  four  of  the  crew 
from  below  followed  him  and  relieved  those  lashed  to 
the  shrouds  forward.  The  skipper  was  carrying  out 
the  plan  he  had  decided  on,  and  the  foresail  was  hoisted 
a  few  feet,  the  Osprey  by  its  aid  gradually  edging  her 

213 


2 14:  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

way  out  from  the  centre  of  the  tornado.  The  hands 
as  they  came  down  received  a  stiff  glass  of  grog,  and 
were  told  to  turn  in  at  once.  Two  hours  after  the  storm 
broke  Funds  came  down  for  a  few  minutes. 

"  She  is  doing  splendidly,  sir,"  he  said ;  "  I  would 
not  have  believed  if  I  had  not  seen  it  that  any  craft 
of  her  size  could  have  gone  through  such  a  sea  as  this 
and  shipped  so  little  water.  We  have  had  a  few  big 
'uns  come  on  board,  but  in  general  she  goes  over  them 
like  a  duck.  It  is  hard  work  forward;  you  have  got 
to  keep  your  back  to  it,  for  you  can  hardly  get  your 
breath  if  you  face  it.  If  it  was  not  for  the  lashings, 
it  would  blow  you  right  away.  I  have  been  at  sea  in 
gales  that  we  thought  were  big  ones,  but  nothing  like 
this.  Of  course,  with  our  heavy  ballast  and  bare  poles, 
she  don't  lie  over  much;  it  is  the  sea  and  not  the  wind 
that  affects  her,  and  her  low  free  board  is  all  in  her 
favour.  But  I  believe  a  ship  with  a  high  side  and 
yards  and  top  hamper  would  be  blown  down  on  her 
beam  ends  and  kept  there." 

"  Do  you  think  that  it  blows  as  hard  as  it  did, 
Purvis?" 

"  There  ain't  much  difference,  sir ;  but  I  do  think 
there  ain't  quite  so  much  weight  in  it.  I  expect  we 
are  working  our  way  out  of  it;  we  have  been  twice 
round  the  compass.  It  is  lucky  we  had  not  got  down 
among  the  islands  before  we  caught  it.  I  would  not 
give  much  for  our  chances  if  we  had  been  there,  for 
these  gales  gradually  wear  themselves  out  as  they  get 
farther  from  the  islands." 

In  six  hours  the  weather  had  so  far  moderated  that 
they  were  able  to  hoist  the  reefed  foresail,  and  two 
hours  later  the  trysail  was  set  with  all  the  reefs  in. 
These  were  shaken  out  in  a  short  time,  the  wind  dying 
away  fast.  Half  the  crew  had  turned  into  their  ham- 
mocks some  time  before,  and  the  regular  watch  was 
now  set.  The  motion  of  the  ship,  however,  was  very 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  215 

violent,  for  there  was  a  heavy  tumbling  sea  still  on, 
the  waves  having  no  general  direction,  but  tossing  in 
confused  masses  and  coming  on  to  the  deck,  now  on 
one  side,  now  on  the  other.  At  midnight  Frank  also 
turned  in,  in  his  clothes,  but  he  was  soon  up  again, 
for  the  motion  of  the  yacht  was  so  violent  that  he 
found  it  next  to  impossible  to  keep  from  being  jerked 
out  of  his  berth.  The  first  mate  had  had  four  hours 
off  duty,  and  had  just  come  up  again  to  relieve  the 
captain. 

"It  is  lucky,  sir,  that  all  our  gear  is  nearly  new," 
he  said,  "  for  if  it  had  not  been,  this  rolling  would 
have  taken  the  mast  out  of  her.  The  strain  on  the 
shrouds  each  time  that  she  gets  chucked  over  must  be 
tremendous/' 

"  It  would  have  been  better  for  this  sort  of  work 
if  we  had  had  ten  feet  taken  off  that  stick  before  we 
started." 

"  Well,  just  for  the  present  it  would  have  been 
better,  sir;  but  even  if  we  had  had  time  I  would  not 
have  done  it.  We  should  not  have  much  chance  of 
overhauling  the  Phantom  if  we  clipped  our  wings." 

In  another  two  hours  the  sea  had  sensibly  moder- 
ated. Frank  again  went  down,  and  this  time  was  able 
to  go  to  sleep.  When  he  went  on  deck  the  sun  was 
some  way  up,  the  mainsail  was  set,  and  the  reefs  had 
been  shaken  out. 

"  This  is  a  change  for  the  better,  captain." 

"It  is  indeed,  sir;  I  think  that  we  have  reason 
to  be  proud  of  the  craft;  she  has  gone  through  a  tor- 
nado without  having  suffered  the  slightest  damage,  ex- 
cept the  loss  of  the  dingey.  I  shall  be  getting  the  top- 
mast up  in  another  hour;  you  see,  I  have  got  her  num- 
ber two  jib  on  her  and  shifted  the  mizzen,  but  she  is 
still  a  bit  too  lively  to  make  it  safe  to  get  up  the  spar. 
Like  as  not,  if  we  did.  it  would  snap  off  before  we 
could  get  the  stays  taut." 


216  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  I  am  terribly  anxious  about  the  Phantom,"  Frank 
said,  "and  only  trust  that  she  was  in  a  snug  harbour 
on  the  lee  side  of  one  of  the  islands." 

"  I  hope  so,  sir ;  I  was  thinking  of  her  lots  of  times 
when  the  gale  was  at  its  height.  If  she  was,  as  you 
say,  in  a  good  port,  she  would  be  right  enough.  Of 
course,  if  she  was  out  she  would  run  for  the  nearest 
shelter." 

"  If  she  had  no  more  wind  than  we  had  before  it 
came  on,  she  had  not  much  chance  of  doing  that." 

"  That  is  true  enough,  sir,  but,  you  see,  the  glass 
gave  us  notice  three  hours  before  we  caught  it.  Be- 
sides, they  certainly  took  native  pilots  on  board  as 
soon  as  they  got  out  here,  and  these  must  have  got  them 
into  some  safe  place  at  the  first  sign  of  a  gale." 

"  Yes,  they  must  certainly  have  had  a  pilot  on 
board,"  Frank  agreed,  "  and  there  is  every  ground  to 
hope  that  they  were  snugly  at  anchor.  They  were 
three  weeks  ahead  of  us,  and  must  know  that  it  is  the 
hurricane  season  as  well  as  we  do.  It  is  likely  that 
the  first  thing  they  did  on  their  arrival  was  to  search 
for  some  quiet  spot  where  they  could  lie  up  safely  till 
the  bad  season  was  over." 

Late  on  the  following  afternoon  land  was  seen 
ahead. 

"  There  is  Porto  Rico,  sir.  It  may  not  be  quite  our 
nearest  point  to  make,  but  there  are  no  islands  lying 
outside  it ;  so  that  it  was  safer  to  make  for  it  than  for 
places  where  the  islands  seemed  to  be  as  thick  as  peas/' 

"  Yes,  and  for  the  same  reason  it  is  likely  that  Car- 
thew  made  for  it.  Of  course,  naturally  we  should 
have  both  gone  for  either  Barbadoes  or  Antigua,  or 
Barbuda,  the  most  northern  of  the  Leeward  Islands; 
but  he  would  not  do  so  if  he  intends  to  keep  his  Bel- 
gian colours  flying.  And  indeed  it  would  seem  curious 
that  two  English  gentlemen  should  be  cruising  about 
in  a  Belgian  trader.  You  may  take  it  that  he  is  cer- 


THE  QUEEN'S  GUP.  217 

tain  to  put  into  a  port  for  water  and  vegetables,  just 
as  we  have  to  do.  There  seem  to  be  at  least  half  a 
dozen  on  this  side  of  the  island.  He  may  have  gone 
into  any  of  them,  but  he  would  be  most  likely  to  choose 
a  small  place.  However,  at  one  or  other  of  them  we 
are  likely  to  get  news,  and  the  first  thing  for  us  to  do 
is  to  get  a  good  black  pilot,  who  can  talk  some  Eng- 
lish as  well  as  Spanish." 

"  It  is  likely  we  shall  have  to  take  three  or  four 
of  them  before  we  have  done.  A  man  here  might  know 
the  Virgin  Islands,  and  perhaps  most  of  the  Leeward 
Islands,  but  he  might  not  know  anything  east,  west, 
or  north  of  San  Domingo.  We  should  certainly  want 
another  pilot  for  the  Bahamas,  and  a  third  for  Cuba 
and  the  islands  round  it,  which  can  be  counted  almost 
by  the  hundred.  Then  again,  none  of  these  would 
know  the  islands  fringing  almost  the  whole  of  the 
coast  from  Honduras  to  Trinidad.  However,  I  hope 
we  shall  not  have  to  search  them.  There  is  an  ample 
cruising  ground  and  any  number  of  hiding-places  with- 
out having  to  go  so  far  out  of  the  world  as  that.  At 
any  rate,  at  present  he  is  not  likely  to  have  gone  far, 
and  I  think  that  he  will  either  have  sought  some  se- 
cluded shelter  among  the  Virgin  Islands  or  on  the  coast 
of  San  Domingo." 

When  within  a  few  miles  of  Porto  Rico  they  lay 
to  for  the  night,  and  the  next  morning  coasted  west- 
ward, and  dropped  anchor  in  the  port  of  San  Juan 
de  Porto  Rico. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  after  dropping  anchor  the 
port  officials  came  on  board.  The  inspection  of  the 
ship's  papers  was  a  short  formality,  the  white  ensign 
and  the  general  appearance  of  the  craft  showing  her 
at  once  to  be  an  English  yacht,  and  as  she  had  only 
touched  at  Madeira  on  her  way  from  Gibraltar,  and 
all  on  board  were  in  good  health,  she  was  at  once  given 
pratique. 


218  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  get  an  interpreter," 
Frank  said,  as  he  was  rowed  to  shore,  accompanied 
by  George  Lechmere.  "  The  secretary  of  Lloyd's  gave 
me  a  list  of  their  agents  all  over  the  world.  It  is  a 
Spanish  firm  here,  and  it  is  probable  that  none  of  them 
speaks  English,  but  if  so  I  have  no  doubt  that  by  aid 
of  this  signal-book  I  shall  be  able  to  make  them  under- 
stand what  I  want.  I  have  a  circular  letter  of  intro- 
duction from  Lloyd's  secretary." 

He  had  no  difficulty  in  discovering  the  place  of 
business  of  Senor  Juan  Cordovo,  and  on  sending  in  his 
card  and  the  letter  of  introduction  was  at  once  shown 
into  an  inner  office.  He  was  received  with  grave 
courtesy  by  the  merchant,  who,  on  learning  that  he 
did  not  speak  Spanish,  touched  a  bell  on  his  table.  A 
clerk  entered,  to  whom  he  spoke  a  few  words.  The 
young  man  then  turned  to  Frank,  and  said :  "  I  speak 
English,  sir.  Senor  Cordovo  wishes  me  to  assure  you 
that  all  he  has  is  at  your  disposal,  and  that  he  will 
be  happy  to  assist  you  in  any  way  that  you  mav  point 
out." 

"  Please  assure  Senor  Cordovo  of  my  high  consid- 
eration and  gratitude  for  his  offer.  Will  you  inform 
him  that  I  intend  to  cruise  for  some  time  among  the 
islands,  and  that  I  desire  to  obtain  the  services  of  an 
interpreter,  speaking  English  and  Spanish;  and  if  he 
posessses  some  knowledge  of  French,  so  much  the 
better." 

The  reply  was  translated  to  the  merchant,  who  con- 
versed with  the  interpreter  for  two  or  three  minutes. 
The  latter  then  turned  to  Frank. 

"  I  have  a  brother,  senor,  who  like  myself  speaks 
the  three  languages.  He  is  at  present  out  of  employ- 
ment, and  would,  I  am  sure,  be  very  glad  to  engage 
himself  to  you  as  your  interpreter." 

"  That  would  be  the  very  thing,"  Frank  said.  "  Does 
he  live  in  the  town  ? " 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  219 

"  Yes,  senor ;  I  could  fetch  him  here  in  a  few  min- 
utes if  Senor  Cordovo  will  permit  me  to  do  so." 

The  merchant  at  once  granted  the  clerk's  request. 

"  Will  you  tell  Senor  Cordovo,"  Frank  said,  "  that 
I  do  not  wish  to  occupy  his  valuable  time,  and  that 
I  will  return  here  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour?  " 

The  merchant,  however,  through  the  clerk,  assured 
Frank  that  he  would  not  hear  of  his  leaving,  and  pro- 
ducing a  box  of  cigars,  begged  him  to  seat  himself 
until  the  arrival  of  the  interpreter.  He  then  said  some- 
thing else  to  the  clerk,  and  the  latter  asked  Frank  if 
he  wanted  any  supplies  for  the  yacht,  as  his  employer 
acted  as  agent  for  shipping. 

"  Certainly,"  Frank  said,  glad  to  have  the  oppor- 
tunity of  repaying  the  civility  shown  him.  "  I  require 
fresh  meat,  fruit  and  vegetables,  sufficient  for  twenty- 
five  persons.  I  shall  also  be  glad  if  he  will  arrange 
for  boats  to  take  off  water.  My  barrels  and  tanks  are 
nearly  empty,  and  I  shall  want  a  supply  of  about  a 
thousand  gallons." 

While  the  clerk  was  absent  Frank,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  signal-book,  kept  up  a  somewhat  disjointed 
conversation  with  the  Spaniard.  The  clerk  was,  how- 
ever, away  but  a  few  minutes,  and  returned  with  his 
brother,  an  intelligent-looking  young  fellow  of  seven- 
teen or  eighteen.  He  did  not  speak  English  quite  as 
well  as  the  clerk,  but  sufficiently  well  for  all  purposes. 
Frank  asked  him  his  terms,  which  seemed  to  him  ridicu- 
lously low,  and  a  bargain  was  forthwith  arranged. 

"  Will  you  ask  Senor  Cordovo  if  any  other  English 
yacht  has  been  here  during  the  past  three  weeks  or  a 
month?  I  have  a  friend  on  board  one,  and  I  fancy 
that  she  is  cruising  out  here  also." 

The  merchant  replied  that  no  English  yacht  had 
touched  at  the  port  for  some  months,  and  that  such 
visits  were  extremely  rare.  He  assured  him  that  the 
stores  ordered  would  be  alongside  in  the  course  of  the 


220  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

afternoon,  and  expressed  his  regret  when  Frank  de- 
clined his  invitation  to  stay  with  him  for  a  day  or  two 
at  his  country  house.  After  renewed  thanks,  Frank 
took  his  departure  with  his  new  interpreter,  whose 
name  was  Pedro.  George  Lechmere  was  waiting  at 
the  corner  of  the  street. 

"  I  have  arranged  everything  satisfactorily,  George. 
This  young  man  is  coming  with  me  as  interpreter,  and 
as  he  speaks  both  French  and  Spanish  we  shall  get  on 
well  in  future.  When  will  you  be  ready  to  come  on 
board,  Pedro?" 

"  In  half  an  hour,  senor." 

"You  will  find  my  boat  at  the  quay.  Take  your 
things  down  to  it.  It  is  a  white  boat  with  a  British 
flag  at  the  stern.  But  I  don't  want  you  to  go  off  yet; 
I  have  two  things  I  want  you  to  do  before  you  go.  In 
the  first  place,  I  want  a  pilot;  I  want  one  who  knows 
the  Virgin  Islands  well,  and  also  the  coast  of  San 
Domingo." 

"  There  will  be  no  difficulty  about  that,  senor." 

"  In  the  second  place,  I  want  to  find  out  from  the 
boatmen  at  the  quays  whether  a  Belgian  schooner  of 
seventy  or  eighty  tons  has  touched  here  during  the 
last  month.  She  carries  large  yards  on  her  foremast, 
and  is  a  very  fast-looking  craft.  "She  was  at  one  time 
an  English  yacht.  If  she  called  here  I  wish  to  know 
whether  she  sailed  east  or  west,  and  if  possible  to  ob- 
tain an  idea  as  to  her  destination." 

"  There  was  such  a  vessel  here,  senor,  for  I  noticed 
her  myself.  She  only  remained  a  few  hours  while 
her  boats  took  off  water  and  vegetables.  I  happened 
to  notice  her,  for  having  nothing  to  do  I  was  down  at 
the  quays,  and  the  boatmen  were  talking  about  her, 
she  being  a  craft  such  as  is  seldom  seen  now.  Some 
of  the  old  men  said  that  she  reminded  them  of  the 
privateers  in  the  great  war.  I  went  down  to  the  boats 
when  they  first  came  ashore.  The  men  only  spoke 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  221 

French,  and  they  paid  me  a  dollar  to  go  round  with 
them  to  make  their  purchases.  They  took  them,  and 
also  the  water,  off  in  their  own  boats,  which  surprised 
me,  for  they  were  very  handsome  boats,  much  more 
handsome  than  I  have  seen  in  any  ship  that  ever  came 
here.  I  said  that  it  would  cost  them  but  a  very  small 
sum  to  send  the  barrels  off  in  the  native  boats,  but  they 
insisted  upon  taking  them  themselves.  I  don't  know 
which  way  they  sailed,  because  I  went  home  as  soon  as 
they  went  away  from  the  quay,  but  the  boatmen  will 
be  able  to  tell  me." 

He  went  away  and  talked  with  some  of  the  negro 
boatmen,  and  soon  returned,  saying  that  she  sailed 
westward. 

"At  what  time  did  she  sail?" 

"  It  was  just  getting  dark,  senor,  for  they  said  that 
they  could  scarcely  make  her  out,  but  she  certainly 
went  west." 

"  Well,  all  you  have  to  do  now,  Pedro,  is  to  hire  a 
pilot.  Get  the  best  man  that  you  can  find.  I  want 
one  who  knows  every  foot  of  the  Virgin  Islands;  we 
are  going  there  first.  It  does  not  matter  so  much  about 
his  knowing  San  Domingo,  for  as  we  shall  probably 
come  back  here  we  can  put  him  ashore  and  get  another 
pilot  specially  for  San  Domingo.  Be  sure  you  get  the 
best  man  that  you  can  find  whatever  his  terms  are. 
We  will  be  back  again  here  in  half  an  hour. 

"  That  is  satisfactory  indeed,  George,"  Frank  went 
on,  as  they  turned  away.  "  Of  course,  strongly  as  we 
believed  that  he  might  be  here,  there  was  no  absolute 
certainty  about  it,  for  he  might  have  gone  to  the  South 
American  ports,  or  even  have  headed  for  the  Gulf  of 
Florida.  You  see  he  is  not  only  here,  but  came  to  the 
very  island  we  thought  that  he  would  most  likely  make 
for.  As  for  his  going  west,  no  doubt  that  was  merely 
a  ruse.  He  did  not  get  up  anchor  until  it  was  getting 
so  dark  that  he  would  be  able  in  the  course  of  half  an 
15 


222  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

hour  to  change  his  course,  and  make  for  the  Virgin 
Islands  without  fear  of  being  observed.  I  don't  sup- 
pose that  they  have  any  idea  whatever  of  being  fol- 
lowed, but  they  take  every  precaution  in  their  power 
to  cover  up  their  traces.  You  noticed,  of  course,  their 
anxiety  that  no  shore  boat  should  go  off  to  them.  Well, 
George,  we  have  succeeded  so  well  thus  far  that  I  feel 
confident  that  we  shall  overhaul  them  before  long.  As 
far  as  one  can  see  on  the  chart,  most  of  these  Virgin 
Islands  are  mere  rocks,  and  the  number  we  shall  have 
to  search  will  not  be  very  great,  and  if  the  pilot  really 
knows  his  business,  he  ought  to  be  able  to  take  us  to 
every  inlet  where  they  would  be  likely  to  anchor." 

Pedro  was  awaiting  them  when  they  returned  to 
the  boat,  and  was  accompanied  by  a  big  negro,  who 
by  the  grin  on  his  good-natured  face  was  evidently 
highly  satisfied  with  the  bargain  that  he  had  made. 

"  This  is  the  man,  senor,"  Pedro  said.  "  I  met  one 
of  the  port  officers  I  know,  and  he  told  me  that  he  was 
considered  to  be  the  best  pilot  in  the  island.  He 
speaks  a  little  English — most  of  the  pilots  do,  for 
several  of  the  Virgin  Islands  belong  to  your  people 
— and,  of  course,  when  he  goes  down  to  the  Windward 
Islands " 

"  The  Windward  Islands !  "  Frank  repeated.  "  Wky, 
they  are  not  anywhere  near  here." 

"I  should  have  said  the  Leeward  Islands,  senor. 
The  English  call  them  so,  but  we  and  the  Danes  and 
the  Dutch  all  call  them  the  Windward  Islands." 

"  Oh,  I  understand.    What  is  your  name,  my  man  ?  " 

"  Dominique,  sar.  Me  talk  English  bery  well.  Me 
take  you  to  any  port  you  want  to  go.  Me  know  all  de 
rocks  and  shoals.  Bery  plenty  dey  is,  but  Dominique 
knows  ebery  one  of  dem." 

"  That  is  all  right ;  you  are  just  the  man  I  -want. 
Well,  are  you  ready  to  go  on  board  at  once  ?  " 

"  Me  ready  in  an  hour,  sar ;  go  home  now,  say  good- 


THE  QUEEK'S  CUP.  223 

bye  to  wife  and  piccaninnies.  Pedro  just  tell  me  that 
boat  go  off  with  water  in  one,  two  hours.  Dominique 
go  off  with  him.  Me  like  five  dollars  to  give  wife  to 
buy  tings  while  me  am  away." 

"  All  right,  Dominique,  here  you  are.  Now  don't 
you  miss  the  boat,  or  we  shall  quarrel  at  starting,  and 
I  shall  send  ashore  at  once  and  engage  someone  else." 

"  Dominique  come,  sar,  that  for  sure ;  me  good 
man;  always  keep  promise." 

"  Well,  here  is  another  couple  of  dollars,  Domi- 
nique; that  is  a  present.  You  give  that  to  the  wife 
and  tell  her  to  buy  something  for  the  piccaninnies 
with  it." 

So  saying,  Frank,  George  Lechrnere,  and  Pedro 
stepped  on  board  the  boat,  while  the  pilot  walked  off, 
his  black  face  beaming  with  satisfaction. 

He  came  off  duly  with  the  last  water-boat,  and 
while  the  contents  of  the  barrels  were  being  trans- 
ferred to  the  tanks — for  now  that  the  long  run  was 
accomplished  there  was  no  longer  any  necessity  for 
carrying  a  greater  supply  than  these  could  hold — 
Frank  had  a  talk  with  him. 

"  Now,  Dominique,  this  is,  you  know,  a  yacht  cruis- 
ing about  on  pleasure." 

"  Yes,  sar,  me  know  dat." 

"  At  the  same  time,"  Frank  went  on,  "  we  have  an 
object  in  view.  Just  at  present  we  want  to  find  that 
schooner  or  brigantine  that  put  in  here  nearly  a  month 
ago.  She  carried  a  heavy  spread  of  canvas  on  her 
yards,  and  lay  very  low  in  the  water:" 

The  pilot  nodded.  "  Me  remember  him,  sar ;  could 
not  make  out  de  craft  nohow;  some  people  said  she 
pirate,  but  dar  ain't  no  pirates  now." 

"  That  is  so,  Dominique ;  still  there  may  be  rea- 
sons sometimes  for  wanting  to  overhaul  a  vessel,  and 
I  have  such  a  reason.  What  it  is,  is  of  no  consequence. 
Pedro  tells  me  that  when  she  got  under  sail  she  went 


224  THE  QUEEN'S  UUP. 

west,  but  as  it  was  just  dark  when  she  sailed  she  may 
very  well  have  turned  as  soon  as  she  was  hidden  from 
sight  and  have  gone  east,  and  it  seems  to  me  likely  that 
she  would,  in  the  first  place,  have  made  for  one  of  the 
Virgin  Islands." 

"  It  depends,  sar,  upon  the  trade  that  he  wanted  to 
do;  not  much  trade  dere,  sar.  The  trade  is  done  at 
Tortola,  dat  English  island,  and  at  St.  Thomas  or 
Santa  Cruz,  dem  Danish  islands;  all  de  oders  do  little 
trade." 

"  Yes,  Dominique,  but  I  don't  think  that  she  wants 
to  trade  at  all ;  what  she  wants  to  do  is  to  lie  up  quietly, 
where  she  would  not  be  noticed." 

"  Plenty  of  places  in  the  islands  for  dat,  sar." 

"Did  they  take  a  pilot  here?" 

Dominique  shook  his  head. 

"  No,  sar ;  several  offers,  but  no  take.  If  want  to 
hide,  they  no  want  pilot  from  here;  they  take  up  a 
fisherman  among  the  islands,  to  show  dem  good  place. 
But  plenty  of  places  much  better  in  San  Domingo  or 
Cuba.  Why  dey  stop  Virgin  Islands?  Little  places, 
many  got  no  water,  no  food,  no  noting  but  bare 
rock." 

"  I  think  that  they  would  go  in  there,  because,  as 
the  hurricane  season  had  begun  when  they  got  here, 
they  would  think  it  better  to  run  into  the  port." 

"  Hurricane  not  bad  here,  sar ;  bery  bad  down  at 
what  English  call  Leeward  Islands.  Have  dem  some- 
times here,  not  bery  often;  had  one  four  days  ago,  one 
ob  de  worse  me  remember.  We  not  likely  to  have  an- 
other dis  year." 

"  That  is  satisfactory,  Dominique ;  we  got  caught 
in  it  the  other  day,  and  I  don't  want  to  meet  another. 
Well,  you  understand  what  I  want.  To  begin  with, 
to  search  all  the  places  a  vessel  that  did  not  want  to 
attract  notice  would  be  likely  to  lie  up  in.  We  want 
to  question  people  as  to  whether  she  has  been  seen, 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  225 

and  if  we  don't  find  her,  to  hear  whether,  when  last 
seen,  she  was  sailing  in  the  direction  of  the  Leeward 
Islands,  or  going  west." 

"  Me  find  out,  sar,"  the  negro  said,  confidently ; 
"  someone  sure  to  have  seen  her." 

"  Well,  you  had  better  come  below ;  I  have  got  a 
chart,  and  you  shall  mark  all  the  islands  where  there 
are  any  bays  that  she  would  be  likely  to  take  shelter 
in,  and  we  can  then  see  the  order  in  which  we  had 
better  take  them." 

This  was  a  little  beyond  Dominique's  English,  but 
Pedro  explained  it  to  him,  and  at  Frank's  request  went 
below  with  them,  Frank  telling  Hawkins  to  weigh  an- 
chor as  soon  as  the  tanks  were  filled  and  the  stores  were 
on  board.  He  had,  before  he  came  off,  returned  to 
Senor  Cordovo  and  paid  for  all  the  things  supplied. 
Going  through  the  islands,  one  by  one,  Dominique 
made  a  cross  against  all  that  possessed  harbours  or 
inlets  that  would  each  have  to  be  examined. 

"  Tortola  is  the  least  likely  of  the  places  for  them 
to  go,"  Frank  said,  "  as  it  is  a  British  island." 

"  Not  many  people  dar,  sar.  Most  people  in  town, 
de  rest  of  island  rock,  all  hills  broken  up,  many  good 
harbours." 

"  What  is  its  size,  Dominique  ?  " 

"  Twelve  miles  long,  sar ;  two  miles  wide." 

"Well,  that  is  not  a  great  deal  to  search,  if  we 
have  to  examine  every  inch  of  the  coast.  How  many 
people  are  there  ?  " 

"  Two,  three  hundred  white  men ;  dey  live  in  de 
town  most  all;  two,  three  thousand  blacks." 

"Well,  we  will  begin  with  the  others.  I  should 
think  that  in  a  fortnight  we  ought  to  be  able  to  do 
them  all." 

The  next  twelve  days  were  occupied  in  a  fruitle-s 
search.  Every  fishing  boat  was  overhauled  and  ques- 
tioned, and  Frank  and  Pedro  went  ashore  to  every 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

group  of  huts.  The  only  fact  that  they  learned  was 
that  a  schooner  answering  to  the  description  had  been 
seen  some  time  before.  The  information  respecting 
her  was,  however,  very  vague,  for  some  asserted  that 
she  was  sailing  one  way,  some  another,  and  Frank  con- 
cluded that  she  had  cruised  about  for  some  days  before 
deciding  where  to  lie  up.  It  was  at  Tortola  that  they 
first  gained  any  useful  information.  Many  vessels  had, 
during  the  last  six  weeks,  entered  one  or  other  of  the 
deep  creeks,  and  one  of  them  had  laid  up  for  nearly  a 
month  in  a  narrow  inlet  with  but  one  or  two  negro 
huts  on  shore.  It  was  undoubtedly  the  Phantom,  or 
rather  the  Dragon,  for  the  negroes  had  noticed  that 
name  on  her  stern.  She  had  sailed  on  the  day  after 
the  hurricane,  and,  as  they  learned  from  shore  villages 
at  other  points,  had  gone  west. 

"  Well,  it  is  a  comfort  to  think  that  even  if  we  had 
sailed  direct  here  from  Porto  Rico  we  should  not  have 
caught  her,"  Frank  said  to  George  Lechmere.  "  She 
had  left  here  two  days  before  we  got  there.  I  suppose 
they  have  someone  on  board  who  has  been  in  the  islands 
before,  for  certainly  the  harbours  are  the  best  in  the 
group.  !NV>  doubt  they  got  some  fishermen  to  bring 
them  into  the  creek.  Well,  there  is  nothing  to  do  but 
to  turn  her  head  west.  It  is  but  forty-eight  hours'  sail 
to  San  Domingo,  and  I  fancy  that  it  is  likely  that  he 
will  have  stopped  there.  You  see  on  the  chart  that 
there  are  numberless  bays,  and  there  would  be  no  fear 
of  questions  being  asked  by  the  blacks.  If  we  don't 
find  him  there  we  must  try  Cuba;  but  San  Domingo 
is  by  far  the  most  likely  place  for  him  to  choose  for 
his  headquarters,  and  there  are  at  least  four  biggish 
rivers  he  could  sail  up,  beside  a  score  of  smaller  ones. 
I  should  say  that  we  had  better  try  the  south  and  west 
first.  The  coast  is  a  great  deal  more  indented  there 
than  it  is  to  the  north;  there  seem  to  be  any  number 
of  creeks  and  bays.  I  should  think  that  he  would  be 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  227 

likely  to  make  one  of  these  his  headquarters  and  spend 
his  time  cruising  about." 

Although  Dominique  professed  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  coast  of  San  Domingo  and  Hayti,  Frank 
could  see  that  he  was  not  so  absolutely  certain  as  he 
was  of  the  Virgin  Islands,  and  he  told  him  to  land  at 
villages  as  he  passed  along  and  bring  fishermen  off 
acquainted  with  the  waters  in  their  locality. 

"  Dat  am  de  safest  way  for  sure,  sar,"  Dominique 
said ;  "  dis  chile  know  de  coast  bery  well,  can  pilot 
ship  into  town  of  San  Domingo  or  any  oder  port  that 
ships  go  to,  but  he  could  not  say  for  certain  where  all 
de  rocks  and  shoals  are  along  places  where  de  ships 
iieber  go  in." 

Three  days  later  the  Osprey,  after  sailing  along  the 
northern  shore,  arrived  at  Porto  Rico,  and  passing 
through  the  Mona  channel  between  that  island  and  San 
Domingo,  dropped  anchor  in  the  port  of  the  capital. 
Dominique  went  ashore  with  Pedro  and  spent  some 
hours  in  boarding  coasting  craft  and  questioning 
negroes  whether  they  had  seen  the  brigantine.  Several 
of  them  had  noticed  her.  She  had  been  cruising  off 
the  coast  and  had  put  in  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nieve 
and  at  Jaquemel  on  the  south  coast  of  Hayti.  They 
heard  of  her,  too,  in  the  deep  bay  at  the  west  of  the 
island  between  Capes  Dame  Marie  and  La  Move.  Some 
had  seen  her  sailing  one  way,  some  another;  she  had 
evidently  been,  as  Frank  had  expected,  cruising  about. 
Pedro  put  down  the  dates  of  the  times  at  which  she 
had  been  seen,  but  negroes  are  very  vague  as  to  time, 
and  beyond  the  fact  that  some  had  seen  her  about  a 
week  before,  while  in  other  cases  it  was  nearer  a  fort- 
night, he  could  ascertain  nothing  with  certainty.  So 
far  as  he  could  learn,  she  had  only  put  into  three  ports, 
although  the  coasters  he  boarded  came  from  some 
twenty  different  localities. 

"I  fancy  that  it  is  as  I  expected,"  Frank  said, 


228  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  they  have  one  regular  headquarters  to  which  they  re- 
turn frequently.  It  may  be  some  very  secluded  spot, 
it  may  be  up  one  of  these  small  rivers  marked  on  the 
chart — there  are  a  score  of  them  between  Cape  la  Move 
and  here.  She  does  not  seem  to  have  been  seen  as  far 
east  as  this.  Of  course,  she  has  not  put  in  here,  be- 
cause there  are  some  eight  or  ten  foreign  ships  here 
now.  Everyone  of  these  twenty  rivers  has  plenty  of 
water  for  vessels  of  her  draught  for  some  miles  up.  I 
fancy  our  best  chance  will  be  to  meet  her  cruising." 

"  The  worst  of  that  would  be,  Major,"  George  Lech- 
mere  said,  "that  she  would  know  us,  and  if  she  sails 
as  well  as  she  used  to  do,  we  should  not  catch  her  be- 
fore night  came  on — if  she  had  seven  or  eight  miles' 
start — especially  if  we  both  had  the  wind  aft." 

"  That  is  just  what  I  am  afraid  of ;  I  have  no  doubt 
that  we  could  beat  her  easily  working  to  windward  in. 
her  present  rig,  but  I  am  by  no  means  certain  that  she 
could  not  run  away  from  us  if  we  were  both  free;  and 
if  she  once  recognised  us  there  is  no  saying  where  she 
might  go  to  after  she  had  shaken  us  off.  Certainly  she 
would  not  stay  in  these  waters.  The  question  is  how 
can  we  disguise  ourselves  ?  If  we  took  down  our  mizzen 
and  dirtied  the  rest  of  our  sails,  it  would  not  be  much 
of  a  disguise.  Nothing  but  a  yacht  carries  anything 
like  as  big  a  mainsail  as  ours,  and  our  big  jib  and  fore- 
sail, and  the  straight  bowsprit  would  tell  the  tale.  Of 
course,  we  could  fasten  some  wooden  battens  along  her 
side,  and  stretch  canvas  over  them,  and  paint  it  black, 
and  so  raise  her  side  three  feet,  but  even  then  the  nar- 
rowness of  her  hull,  seen  end  on  as  it  would  be,  in  com- 
parison to  the  height  of  the  mast  and  spread  of  canvas 
would  strike  Carthew  at  once." 

"  We  could  follow  his  example,  sir,  and  make  her 
into  a  brig.  I  dare  say  we  could  get  it  done  in  a 
week." 

"  That  might  spoil  her  sailing,  and  as  soon  as  he 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  229 

found  that  we  were  in  chase  of  him  he  would  at  once 
suspect  that  something  was  wrong.  That  would,  of 
all  things,  be  the  worst,  especially  if  he  found — which 
would  be  just  as  likely  as  not — that  he  had  the  legs 
of  us. 

"  I  believe  the  most  certain  way  of  all  would  be  to 
search  for  her  in  the  boats.  If  we  were  to  paint  the 
gig  black,  so  that  it  would  not  attract  attention,  give 
a  coating  of  grey  paint  to  the  oars,  and  hire  a  black 
crew,  we  could  coast  along  and  stop  at  every  village, 
and  search  every  bay,  and  row  far  enough  up  each 
river  to  find  some  village  or  hut  where  we  could  learn 
whether  the  Phantom  has  been  in  the  habit  of  going 
up  there.  It  would  take  some  time,  of  course,  but  it 
might  be  a  good  deal  of  time  saved  in  the  long  run. 
We  could  do  a  great  deal  of  sailing.  The  gig  stands 
well  up  to  canvas  when  the  crew  are  sitting  in  the  bot- 
tom, and  we  could  fit  her  out  with  a  native  rig.  From 
here  to  Cape  La  Move,  following  the  indentations,  must 
be  somewhere  between  five  and  six  hundred  miles,  per- 
haps more  than  that.  The  breeze  is  regular,  and  with 
a  sail  we  ought  to  make  from  forty  to  fifty  miles  a  day 
• — say  forty — so  that  in  three  weeks  we  should  thor- 
oughly have  searched  the  coast,  even  allowing  for  put- 
ting in  three  or  four  times  a  day  to  make  inquiries. 
The  yacht  must  follow,  keeping  a  few  miles  astern. 
At  any  rate  she  must  not  pass  us.  At  night  when  she 
anchors  she  must  have  two  head  lights,  one  at  the 
crosstrees  and  one  at  the  topmast  head.  I  shall  be  on 
the  look-out  for  her,  and  we  will  take  some  blue  lights 
and  some  red  lights  with  us.  Every  night  I  will  burn 
a  blue  light,  say  at  nine  o'clock.  A  man  in  the  cross- 
trees  will  make  it  out  twenty  miles  away,  and  that  will 
tell  them  where  I  am,  and  that  I  don't  want  them.  If 
I  burn  a  red  light  it  will  be  a  signal  for  the  yacht  to 
come  and  pick  me  up." 

"  Then  you  will  go  in  the  boat,  yourself,  Major  ? " 


230  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  Yes,  I  must  be  doing  something.  I  shall  take 
Pedro  with  me,  and  perhaps  Dominique.  We  can  get 
another  pilot  here.  Dominique  is  a  shrewd  fellow,  and 
can  get  more  out  of  the  negroes  than  Pedro  can.  Cer- 
tainly, that  will  be  the  best  plan,  and  will  avoid  the 
necessity  of  spoiling  the  yacht's  speed,  which  may  be 
of  vital  importance  to  us  at  a  critical  moment.  Call 
Dominique  down.  I  will  send  him  ashore  at  once  with 
Pedro  to  get  hold  of  a  good  pilot  and  four  good  negro 
boatmen,  and  a  native  sail.  I  think  that  is  all  we 
want." 


CHAPTER   XV. 

As  soon  as  the  dingey,  with  Dominique  and  Pedro, 
had  left  the  side  of  the  yacht,  the  captain,  by  Frank's 
orders,  set  four  men  to  work  to  paint  the  gig  black, 
while  others  gave  a  coat  of  dull  lead  colour  to  the 
varnished  oars.  The  order  was  received  with  much 
surprise  by  the  men,  who  audibly  expressed  their  regret 
at  seeing  their  brightly  varnished  boat  and  oars  thus 
disfigured. 

After  about  three  hours  on  shore  the  dingey  re- 
turned loaded  with  fruit  and  vegetables,  which  Pedro 
had  purchased,  and  a  native  mast  and  sail.  The  former 
was  at  once  cut  so  as  to  step  in  the  gig.  The  sail  was 
hoisted,  and  was  then  taken  in  hand  by  one  of  the 
crew,  who  was  a  fair  sailmaker,  to  be  altered  so  as  to 
stand  flatter.  Half  an  hour  later  the  new  pilot  and 
four  powerful  negroes  came  alongside  in  a  shore  boat. 

It  was  now  late  in  the  afternoon,  so  the  start  was 
postponed  until  the  next  morning.  A  few  other  ar- 
rangements were  made  as  to  signalling,  and  it  was 
settled  that  if  Frank  showed  a  red  light  a  rocket  should 
be  sent  up  from  the  yacht,  to  show  that  the  signal  had 
been  observed,  and  that  they  were  getting  up  sail. 
They  were  to  keep  their  lights  up,  so  that  Frank  could 
make  them  out  as  they  came  up,  and  put  off  to  meet 
them.  George  Lechmere  saw  to  the  preparations  for 
victualling  the  gig.  Two  large  hampers  of  fresh  pro- 
visions were  placed  on  board,  and  two  four-and-a-half 
gallon  kegs  of  water.  A  bundle  of  rugs  was  placed 
in  the  stern  sheets,  and  the  boat's  flagstaff  was  fixed 

231 


232  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

in  its  place  in  the  stern.  The  yard  of  the  sail  was  at 
night  to  be  lashed  from  the  mast  to  the  staff  at  a  height 
of  four  feet  above  the  gunwale,  and  across  this  the 
sail  was  to  be  thrown  to  act  as  a  tent.  A  kettle,  frying- 
pan,  plates,  knives  and  forks,  were  put  in  forward,  and 
a  box  of  signal  lights  under  the  seat  aft.  Canisters 
of  tea,  sugar,  coffee,  and  all  necessaries  had  been  stowed 
away  in  the  hamper,  together  with  a  plentiful  supply 
of  tobacco;  and  a  bag  of  twenty-eight  pounds  of  flour, 
wrapped  up  in  tarpaulin,  was  placed  under  one  of  the 
thwarts. 

As  soon  as  it  was  daylight,  anchor  was  got  up,  and 
when  the  yacht  had  sailed  for  seven  or  eight  miles  to 
the  west  the  gig  was  lowered,  and  the  four  black  boat- 
men took  their  places  in  her.  Frank  took  the  rudder 
lines,  and  Dominique  sat  near  him.  The  sail  was  then 
hoisted,  and  as  the  wind  was  light  the  boatmen  got 
out  their  oars,  and  shot  ahead  of  the  Osprey,  directing 
their  course  obliquely  towards  the  shore. 

It  was  not  necessary  to  land  at  the  coast  villages 
here,  as  it  was  morally  certain  that  the  Phantom  had 
not  touched  anywhere  within  twenty  or  thirty  miles  of 
San  Domingo,  and  she  would  hardly  have  entered  any 
of  the  narrow  rivers  at  night.  Nevertheless  they  did 
not  pass  any  of  these  without  rowing  up  them.  When 
some  native  huts  were  reached,  Dominique  closely 
questioned  the  negroes. 

The  pilot  had  by  this  time  been  informed  of  the 
cause  of  their  search  for  the  Phantom,  which  had,  until 
they  left  San  Domingo,  been  a  profound  mystery  to 
him.  Frank,  however,  being  now  fully  convinced  both 
of  the  negro's  trustworthiness,  and  of  his  readiness  to 
do  all  in  his  power  to  assist,  thought  it  as  well  to  con- 
fide in  him,  and  when  they  were  together  in  the  boat, 
informed  him  that  the  brigantine  they  were  searching 
for  had  carried  off  a  young  lady  and  her  maid  from 
England." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  233 

"  That  man  must  be  a  rascal,"  the  negro  said,  an- 
grily. "  What  do  he  want  dat  lady  for,  sar  ?  He  love 
her  bery  much  ?  " 

"  No,  Dominique,  what  he  loves  is  her  fortune.  She 
is  rich,  he  has  gambled  away  a  fine  property,  and  wants 
her  money  to  set  him  on  his  legs  again." 

"  Bery  bad  fellow  dat,"  the  pilot  said,  shaking  his 
head,  earnestly ;  "  ought  to  be  hung  dat  chap ;  Domi- 
nique do  all  he  can  to  help  you,  sar;  do  more  now  for 
you  and  dat  young  lady;  we  find  him  for  suah.  You 
tink  there  will  be  any  fighting,  sar  ? " 

"I  think  it  likely  that  he  will  show  fight  when  we 
come  up  with  him,  but  you  see  I  have  a  very  strong 
crew,  and  I  have  arms  for  them  all." 

"  Dat  good.  Me  wonder  often  why  you  have  so 
many  men.  Nothing  for  half  of  dem  to  do.  Now  me 
understand.  Well,  sar,  if  there  be  any  fighting,  you 
see  me  fight;  you  gib  me  cutlass;  me  fight  like  debil." 

"  Thank  you,  Dominique,"  Frank  said,  warmly, 
though  with  some  difficulty  repressing  a  smile.  "  I 
shall  count  on  you  if  we  have  to  use  force.  As  far  as 
I  am  concerned,  I  own  that  I  should  prefer  that  they 
did  resist,  for  I  should  like  nothing  better  than  to 
stand  face  to  face  with  that  villain,  each  of  us  armed 
with  a  cutlass." 

"If  he  know  you  here,  he  go  up  river,  get  plenty 
of  black  men  fight  for  him.  Black  fellow  bery  fool- 
ish. Give  him  little  present  he  fight." 

"I  had  not  thought  of  that,  Dominique;  yea,  if 
he  has  made  some  creek  his  headquarters  he  might,  as 
you  say,  get  the  people  to  take  his  side  by  giving  them 
presents;  that  is,  if  he  knew  that  we  were  here.  How- 
ever, at  present  he  cannot  dream  that  we  are  after 
him,  and  if  we  can  but  come  upon  him  unawares  we 
shall  make  short  work  of  him." 

No  news  whatever  was  obtained  of  the  schooner 
until  the  headland  of  La  Catarina  was  passed,  but 


234  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

at  the  large  village  of  Azua  they  learned  that  she  had 
anchored  for  a  night  in  the  bay  five  days  before.  She 
had  been  seen  to  sail  out,  and  certainly  had  not  turned 
into  the  river  Niova.  Touching  at  every  village  and 
exploring  every  inlet,  Frank  continued  his  course  until, 
after  rounding  the  bold  promontory  of  La  Beata,  he 
reached  the  bay  at  the  head  of  which  stands  Jaquemel. 

Every  two  or  three  days  they  had  communicated 
with  the  Osprey  and  slept  on  board  her,  leaving  her  at 
anchor  with  her  sails  down  until  they  had  gone  some 
ten  miles  in  advance.  She  had  at  times  been  obliged 
to  keep  at  some  distance  from  the  shore,  owing  to  the 
dangers  from  rocks  and  shoals.  The  pilot  on  board 
would  have  taken  her  through,  but  Frank  was  unwill- 
ing to  encounter  any  risk,  unless  absolutely  necessary. 
At  Jaquemel  he  learnt  that  the  schooner  had  put  in 
there  a  fortnight  before,  but  neither  there  nor  at  any 
point  after  leaving  Azua  had  she  been  seen  since  that 
time.  She  had  sailed  west.  The  next  night,  after 
looking  in  at  Bainette,  some  twenty  miles  beyond 
Jaquemel,  Frank  rejoined  the  Osprey. 

The  gig  was  hoisted  up,  and  they  sailed  round  the 
point  of  Gravois,  the  coast  intervening  being  so  rocky 
and  dangerous  that,  although  there  was  a  passage 
through  the  shoals  to  the  town  of  St.  Louis,  Frank  felt 
certain  that  the  schooner  would  not  be  in  there.  The 
coast  from  here  to  Cape  Dame  Marie  was  high  and 
precipitous,  with  no  indentations  where  a  ship  could 
lie  concealed,  and  the  voyage  was  continued  in  the 
yacht  as  far  as  this  cape.  They  were  now  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  great  bay  of  Hayti. 

"I  take  it  as  pretty  certain,"  Frank  said,  as  he, 
George  Lechmere,  the  skipper,  and  Dominique  bent 
over  the  chart,  "  that  the  schooner  is  somewhere  in  this 
bay.  She  has  certainly  not  made  her  headquarters  any- 
where along  the  south  coast.  In  the  first  place,  she 
has  seldom  been  seen,  and  in  the  second  we  have  ex- 


THE   QUEEN'S  CUP.  235 

amined  it  thoroughly;  therefore  I  take  it  that  she  is 
somewhere  here,  unless,  of  course,  she  has  sailed  for 
Cuba.  But  I  don't  see  why  she  should  have  done  that. 
The  coast  there  is  a  good  deal  more  dangerous  than 
that  of  San  Domingo.  He  could  not  want  a  better 
place  for  cruising  about  than  this  bay;  you  see,  it  is 
about  ninety  miles  across  the  mouth,  and  over  a  hun- 
dred to  Port  au  Prince,  with  indentations  and  harbours 
all  round,  and  with  the  island  of  Genarve,  some  forty 
miles  long,  to  run  behind  in  the  centre.  He  could  get 
everything  he  wants  at  Port  au  Prince,  or  at  Petit 
Gouarve,  which  looks  a  good-sized  place. 

"  I  should  say,  in  the  first  place,  that  we  could  not 
do  better  than  run  down  at  night  to  the  island  of 
Genarve  and  anchor  close  under  it.  From  there  we 
shall  see  him  if  he  comes  out  of  Port  au  Prince,  or 
Petit  Gouve,  whichever  side  he  may  take,  and  by  get- 
ting on  to  an  elevated  spot  have  a  view  of  pretty  nearly 
the  whole  bay.  Looking  at  it  at  present,  the  two  most 
likely  spots  for  him  to  make  his  headquarters  are  in 
that  very  sheltered  inlet  behind  the  point  of  Halle  on 
the  north  side,  or  in  the  equally  sheltered  bay  and 
inlet  under  the  Bee  de  Marsouin  on  the  south.  From 
Genarve  we  ought  to  be  able  to  see  him  coming  out  of 
either  of  them.  It  is  not  above  five-and-twenty  miles 
from  the  island  to  the  Bee  de  Marsouin,  and  forty  to 
the  point  of  Halle;  we  might  not  see  him  come  out 
from  there,  but  we  should  soon  make  him  out  if  he 
were  coming  down  from  Port  au  Prince." 

It  was  agreed  that  this  was  the  best  plan  to  adopt. 
It  might  lead  to  their  sighting  the  schooner  in  a  day 
or  two,  while  to  row  round  the  bay  and  search  every 
inlet  in  it  would  take  them  a  fortnight.  From  Genarve, 
too,  a  forty-mile  sail  in  the  gig  would  take  them  into 
Port  au  Prince,  which  the  brigantine  might  possibly 
have  made  its  headquarters.  Accordingly,  after  wait- 
ing until  nightfall,  they  got  up  sail,  and  anchored  at 


236  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

six  in  the  morning  in  a  small  bay  in  the  island  ci 
Genarve.  Here  they  would  not  be  likely  to  attract  the 
notice  of  any  ship  passing  up  to  Port  au  Prince,  unless, 
which  was  very  unlikely,  one  came  along  close  to  the 
shore. 

As  soon  as  the  anchor  was  dropped  both  boats  rowed 
to  shore.  Frank,  George  Lechmere,  Pedro,  and  four 
sailors,  with  a  basket  of  provisions,  started  at  once 
for  the  highest  point  in  the  island,  some  four  miles 
distant.  Dominique  went  along  the  shore  with  two 
sailors,  to  make  inquiries  at  any  villages  they  came  to. 

On  reaching  the  top  of  the  hill,  Frank  saw  that,  as 
he  had  expected,  it  commanded  an  extensive  view  over 
the  bay  on  each  side  of  the  island,  which  was  but  some 
six  miles  across.  A  village  could  be  seen  on  the  north- 
ern shore,  some  three  miles  distant;  and  to  this  Pedro, 
with  one  of  the  sailors,  was  at  once  despatched.  Both 
parties  rejoined  Frank  soon  after  mid-day.  The 
schooner  had  been  noticed  passing  the  island  several 
times,  but  much  more  often  on  the  southern  side  than 
on  the  northern.  The  negroes  on  that  side  were  all 
agreed  that  she  generally  kept  on  the  southern  side  of 
the  passage,  and  that  more  than  once  she  had  been 
seen  coming  from  the  south  shore,  and  passing  the 
western  point  of  the  island  on  her  way  north. 

"  That  looks  as  if  she  came  from  Petit  Gouve,  or 
the  bay  of  Mitaquane,  or  that  under  the  Bee  de  Mar- 
souin,"  Frank  said. 

"  Dat  is  it,  sar,"  Dominique  agreed.  "  If  she  want 
to  go  north  side  of  bay  from  Port  au  Prince,  she  would 
have  gone  either  side  of  island.  I  expect  she  lie  under 
de  Bee.  Fine,  safe  place  dat,  no  town  there,  plenty  of 
wood  all  round,  and  villages  where  she  get  fruit  and 
vegetables;  sure  to  be  little  stream  where  she  can  get 
water." 

The  watch  was  maintained  until  sunset,  but,  al- 
though a  powerful  telescope  had  been  brought  up,  no 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  237 

vessel  at  all  corresponding  to  the  appearance  of  the 
brigantine  was  made  out. 

At  six  o'clock  the  next  morning  Frank  was  again 
at  the  look-out,  and  scarcely  had  he  turned  his  tele- 
scope to  the  south  shore  than  he  saw  the  brigantine 
come  out  from  behind  the  Bee  de  Marsouin  and  head 
towards  the  west.  The  wind  was  blowing  from  that 
quarter,  and  after  a  few  minutes'  deliberation,  Frank 
told  the  men  to  follow  him  and  dashed  down  the  hill. 
In  half  an  hour  he  reached  the  shore  opposite  the  yacht, 
and  at  his  shout  the  dingey,  which  was  lying  at  her 
stern,  at  once  rowed  ashore. 

"  Get  up  the  anchor,  captain,  and  make  sail.  I 
have  seen  her;  she  has  just  come  out  from  the  Bee, 
and  is  making  west.  As  the  wind  is  against  her,  it 
seems  to  me  that  he  would  never  choose  that  direction 
to  cruise  in  unless  he  was  starting  for  Cuba,  and  I 
dare  not  let  the  opportunity  slip.  If  he  once  gets  clear 
away  we  may  have  months  of  work  before  we  find  him 
again,  and  as  the  wind  now  is,  I  am  sure  that  we  can 
overhaul  him  long  before  he  can  make  Cuba.  Indeed, 
as  we  lie,  we  are  nearer  to  that  coast  than  he  is,  and 
can  certainly  cut  him  off." 

In  five  minutes  the  Osprey  was  under  way  with  all 
sail  set.  The  wind  was  nearly  due  west,  and  as  Cuba 
lay  to  the  north  of  that  point,  she  had  an  advantage 
that  quite  counter-balanced  that  gained  by  the  start 
the  Phantom  had  obtained.  In  two  hours  the  look- 
out at  the  head  of  the  mast  shouted  down  that  he 
could  perceive  the  brigantine's  topsail. 

"  She  is  sailing  in  towards  the  land  on  that  side," 
he  said ;  "  she  has  evidently  made  a  tack  out,  and  is 
now  on  the  starboard  tack  again." 

"  It  will  be  a  long  leg  and  a  short  one  with  her,  sir," 

the  skipper  said.    "  I  think  that  if  we  were  in  her  place 

we  could  just  manage  to  lay  our  course  along  the  coast, 

but  with  those  square  yards  of  hers,  she  cannot  go  as 

16 


238  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

close  to  the  wind  as  we  can.  As  it  is,  we  can  lay  our 
course  to  cut  her  off." 

"It  would  be  rather  a  close  pinch  to  do  so  before 
she  gets  to  the  head  of  the  bay,"  Frank  said. 

"  Yes,  sir,  and  I  don't  suppose  that  we  shall  over- 
haul her  before  that,  but  we  certainly  shan't  be  far 
behind  her  by  the  time  she  gets  there.  I  think  that 
we  shall  cut  her  off  if  the  wind  holds  as  it  does  now. 
At  any  rate,  if  she  should  get  there  first,  we  should 
certainly  lie  between  her  and  Cuba,  and  she  will  have 
either  to  run  back,  or  to  round  the  cape,  or  to  run  east 
or  south.  I  wish  the  wind  would  freshen ;  but  I  fancy 
that  it  is  more  likely  to  die  away.  Still,  she  is  walk- 
ing along  well  at  present." 

Even  Frank,  anxious  as  he  was,  could  not  but  feel 
satisfied  as  he  looked  at  the  water  glancing  past  her 
side.  She  was  heeling  well  over,  and  the  rustle  of 
water  at  her  bow  could  be  heard  where  they  were 
standing  near  the  tiller.  Andrews,  the  best  helmsman 
on  board  the  yacht,  held  the  tiller  rope,  and  Perry  was 
standing  beside  him. 

From  time  to  time  Frank  went  up  to  the  crosstrees. 
"  We  are  drawing  in  upon  her  fast,"  he  said,  "  but 
she  is  travelling  well,  too;  much  better  than  I  should 
have  thought  she  would  have  done  with  that  rig.  I 
think  she  has  got  a  better  wind  than  we  have.  She 
has  only  made  one  short  tack  in  for  the  last  two  hours." 

The  captain's  prognostication  as  to  the  wind  was 
verified,  and  to  Frank's  intense  annoyance  it  gradually 
died  away,  and  headed  them  so  much  that  they  could 
no  longer  lie  their  course. 

"  What  shall  we  do,  sir  ?  Shall  we  hold  across  to 
the  south  shore  and  work  along  by  it,  as  the  schooner 
is  doing,  or  shall  we  go  about  at  once  ? " 

"  Go  about  at  once,  Hawkins.  You  see  we  can 
see  her  topsails  from  the  deck;  and  of  course  she  can 
see  ours.  I  don't  suppose  she  has  paid  any  attention 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  230 

to  us  yet,  and  if  we  stand  away  on  the  other  tack  we 
shall  soon  drop  her  altogether;  while  if  we  hold  on  she 
will,  when  we  reach  that  shore,  be  three  or  four  miles 
behind  us.  Of  course,  she  will  have  a  full  view  of  us." 

They  sailed  on  the  port  tack  for  an  hour  and  then 
came  round  again.  The  brigantine  could  no  longer 
be  seen  from  the  deck,  and  could  only  just  be  made 
out  from  the  crosstrees. 

"  I  think  on  this  tack,"  the  skipper  said,  as  he  stood 
by  the  compass  after  she  had  gone  round,  "we  shall 
make  the  point,  and  I  think  that  we  shall  make  it 
ahead  of  her." 

"  I  think  so  too,  Hawkins.  What  pace  is  she  going 
now?" 

"Not  much  more  than  four  knots,  sir." 

"  My  only  fear  is  that  we  shan't  get  near  her  be- 
fore it  is  dark." 

"  I  think  that  we  have  plenty  of  time  for  that,  sir ; 
you  see  we  got  up  anchor  at  half-past  six,  and  it  is  just 
twelve  o'clock  now.  Another  five  hours  should  take 
us  up  to  her  if  the  wind  holds  at  this." 

By  two  o'clock  the  topsails  of  the  brigantine  could 
be  again  made  out  from  the  deck.  She  was  still  work- 
ing along  shore,  and  was  on  their  port  bow. 

"  Another  three  hours  and  we  shall  be  alongside 
of  her,"  the  skipper  said ;  "  and  if  I  am  not  mistaken 
we  shall  come  out  ahead  of  her." 

"  There  is  one  advantage  in  the  course  we  are  tak- 
ing, Hawkins.  Viewing  us,  as  she  will  pretty  nearly, 
end  on  till  we  get^nearly  abreast  of  her,  she  won't  be 
able  to  make  out  our  rig  clearly." 

By  four  o'clock  they  were  within  five  miles  of  the 
brigantine.  The  wind  then  freshened,  and  laying  her 
course  as  she  did,  while  the  brigantine  was  obliged  to 
make  frequent  tacks,  the  Osprey  ran  down  fast  to- 
wards her. 

"  They  must  have  their  eyes  on  us  by  this  time," 


24:0  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

the  captain  said ;  "  though  they  cannot  be  sure  that 
it  is  the  Osprey,  they  can  see  that  she  is  a  yawl  of  over 
a  hundred  tons,  and  as  they  cannot  doubt  that  we  are 
chasing  them  they  won't  be  long  in  guessing  who  we 
are.  Shall  we  get  the  arms  up,  sir  ? " 

"  Yes,  you  may  as  well  do  so.  The  muskets  can  be 
loaded  and  laid  by  the  bulwarks,  but  they  are  not  to 
be  touched  until  I  give  the  order.  No  doubt  they  also 
are  armed.  I  am  anxious  not  to  fire  a  shot  if  it  can 
be  helped,  and  once  alongside  we  are  strong  enough  to 
overpower  them  with  our  cutlasses  only.  With  the  five 
blacks  we  are  now  double  their  strength,  and  even  Car- 
thew  may  see  the  uselessness  of  offering  any  resistance." 

They  ran  down  until  they  were  within  a  mile  of 
the  shore,  not  being  now  more  than  a  beam  off  the 
brigantine.  Two  female  figures  had  some  time  be- 
fore been  made  out  on  her  deck,  but  they  had  now  dis- 
appeared. It  was  evident  that  the  Osprey  was  being 
closely  watched  by  those  on  board  the  brigantine. 
Presently  two  or  three  men  were  seen  to  run  aft. 

"  They  are  going  to  tack  again,  sir.  If  they  do 
they  will  come  right  out  to  us." 

Frank  made  no  reply,  but  stood  with  his  glass  fixed 
on  the  brigantine.  Suddenly  he  exclaimed,  "  Round 
with  her,  Hawkins !  " 

"  Up  with  your  helm,  Andrews ;  hard  up,  man ! " 
the  skipper  shouted,  as  he  himself  ran  to  slack  out  the 
main  sheet.  Four  men  ran  aft  to  assist  him. 

"  That  will  do,"  he  said,  as  she  fell  off  fast  from 
the  wind.  "Now,  then,  gather  in  the  main  sheet, 
ready  for  a  jibe;  slack  off  the  starboard  runner;  a 
couple  of  hands  aft  and  get  the  square  sail  out  of  the 
locker.  Mr.  Purvis,  get  the  yard  across  her,  lower 
her  down  ready  for  the  sail,  and  see  that  the  braces 
and  guys  are  all  right.  Now  in  with  the  sheet,  lads, 
handsomely.  That  will  do,  that  is  it.  Over  she  goes. 
Slack  out  the  sheet  steadily." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  241 

"  She  is  round  too,"  Frank  said,  as  the  boom  went 
off  nearly  square.  "We  have  gained,  and  she  is  not 
more  than  half  a  mile  away." 

The  manoeuvre  had,  in  fact,  brought  the  yachts 
nearer  to  each  other.  Both  had  their  booms  over  to 
starboard. 

"  Quick  v/ith  that  square  sail,"  Frank  shouted ;  "  she 
is  drawing  away  from  us  fast." 

Two  minutes  later  the  square  sail  was  hoisted,  and 
the  foot  boomed  out  on  the  port  side.  Every  eye  was 
now  fixed  on  the  brigantine,  but  to  their  disappoint- 
ment they  saw  that  she  was  still,  though  very  much 
more  slowly,  drawing  ahead. 

"  That  is  just  what  I  feared,"  Frank  said,  in  a  tone 
of  deep  vexation.  "  With  those  big  yards  I  was  cer- 
tain that  she  v/ould  leave  us  when  running  ahead  be- 
fore the  wind.  However,  there  is  no  fear  of  our  leav- 
ing her.  What  are  we  doing  now  ?  Seven  knots  ? " 

"  About  that,  sir,  and  she  is  doing  a  knot  better." 

"What  do  you  think  that  she  will  do  now, 
Hawkins?" 

"I  don't  see  what  she  has  got  to  do,  sir.  If  she 
were  to  get  five  miles  ahead  of  us,  and  then  haul  her 
wind  she  would  know  that  she  could  not  go  away  from 
us,  for  we  should  be  to  windward;  and  we  are  evi- 
dently a  good  bit  faster  than  she  is  when  we  are  both 
close-hauled.  The  only  other  thing  that  I  can  see  for 
her  to  do  is  to  run  straight  on  to  Port  au  Prince.  At 
the  rate  we  are  going  now  she  would  be  in  soon  after 
daylight  to-morrow.  We  should  be  seven  or  eight  miles 
astern  of  her,  and  he  might  think  that  we  should  not 
venture  to  board  her  there." 

"  I  don't  think  that  he  would  rely  on  that,  Hawkins. 
Now  that  he  knows  who  we  are,  he  will  guess  that  we 
shall  stick  at  nothing.  What  I  am  afraid  of  is  that 
he  will  lower  a  boat  and  row  Miss  Greendale  and  her 
maid  ashore.  He  might  do  it  either  there,  or,  what 


242  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

would  be  much  more  likely,  row  ashore  to  some  quiet 
place  during  the  night,  take  his  friend  and  two  or  three 
of  his  men  with  him,  and  leave  the  rest  to  sail  her  to 
Port  au  Prince." 

"  I  don't  think  that  the  wind  is  going  to  hold," 
the  skipper  said,  looking  astern ;  "  I  reckon  that  it  will 
drop,  as  it  generally  does,  at  sunset.  It  is  not  blow- 
ing so  hard  now  as  it  did  just  before  we  wore  round." 

In  half  an  hour,  indeed,  it  fell  so  light  that  the 
Osprey  was  standing  through  the  water  only  at  three 
and  a  half  knots  an  hour.  The  light  wind  suited  the 
Phantom,  with  her  great  sail  spread.  She  had  now  in- 
creased her  lead  to  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  was  evidently 
leaving  them  fast. 

"  There  is  only  one  thing  to  be  done,  George ;  we 
must  board  them  in  boats." 

"I  am  ready,  Major;  but  it  will  be  a  rather  risky 
business." 

Erank  looked  at  him  in  surprise. 

"  I  don't  mean  for  us,  sir,"  George  said,  with  a 
smile,  "but  for  Miss  Greendale.  You  may  be  sure 
that  those  fellows  will  fight  hard,  and  as  we  come  up 
behind  we  shall  get  it  hot.  Now,  sir,  if  anything  hap- 
pens to  you,  you  must  remember  that  the  Osprey  will 
be  as  good  as  useless  towards  helping  her.  You  as  her 
owner  might  be  able  to  justify  what  we  are  doing,  but 
if  you  were  gone  there  would  be  no  one  to  take  the 
lead.  Carthew  would  only  have  to  sail  into  Port  au 
Prince  and  denounce  us  as  pirates.  I  hear  from  the 
pilot  that  these  niggers  have  got  some  armed  ships, 
and  they  might  sink  us  as  soon  as  we  came  into  the 
harbour,  and  then  there  would  be  an  end  to  any  chance 
of  Miss  Greendale  getting  her  liberty." 

"  That  is  true  enough,  George,  but  I  think  that  it 
must  be  risked.  Now  that  he  knows  we  are  here,  he 
has  nothing  to  do  but  to  send  her  ashore  under  the 
charge  of  his  friend  and  two  or  three  of  the  sailors, 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  243 

and  take  her  up  into  the  hills.  Or  he  might  go  with 
her  himself,  which  is  perhaps  more  likely.  Then  when 
we  came  up  with  her  at  Port  au  Prince  the  skipper 
would  simply  deny  that  there  had  ever  been  any  ladies 
on  board,  and  would  swear  that  he  had  only  carried 
out  two  gentlemen  passengers,  as  his  papers  would 
show,  and  might  declare  that  he  had  landed  them  at 
Porto  Eico.  Of  course,  they  are  certain  to  fight  now, 
for  they  can  do  so  without  risk,  as  they  can  swear 
that  they  took  us  for  a  pirate.  How  many  do  you  think 
that  the  gig  will  carry,  Hawkins?" 

"  Well,  sir,  you  might  put  nine  in  her.  You  brought 
ten  off  at  Southampton;  but  if  you  remember,  it  put 
her  very  low  in  the  water,  and  we  should  run  a  good 
deal  heavier  than  your  party  then." 

"Yes,  I  think  that  we  had  better  take  only  nine; 
if  we  overload  her  she  will  row  so  heavily  that  we  shall 
be  a  long  time  overhauling  them." 

"  I  am  not  quite  sure  that  we  shall  overhaul  them 
anyhow,  sir.  Look  at  those  clouds  coming  over  the 
hills;  they  are  travelling  fast,  and  I  should  say  that 
we  are  likely  to  have  a  squall.  No  doubt  they  get  them 
here  pretty  often  with  such  high  land  all  round." 

"  Well,  we  must  chance  that,  Hawkins.  If  one 
does  come  you  must  pick  us  up  as  we  come  along.  I 
agree  with  you;  it  does  look  as  if  we  should  have  a 
squall.  It  may  not  be  anything  very  serious,  but  any- 
how, if  it  comes  it  will  take  her  along  a  great  deal 
faster  than  we  can  row.  Purvis,  I  suppose  that  the 
dingey  will  carry  seven  ?  " 

"  Yes,  she  will  do  that  easily." 

"  Very  well,  we  can  but  try ;  that  will  give  sixteen 
of  us,  which  is  about  their  strength.  You  must  remain 
on  board.  Purvis  shall  command  the  dingey;  Lech- 
mere  will  go  with  me.  Pick  out  thirteen  hands.  You 
and  Perry  can  manage  with  seven  and  the  five  negroes, 
but  keep  a  sharp  look-out  for  that  squall.  Remember 


24:4  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

that  you  will  have  very  short  warning.  We  are  only 
a  mile  from  the  shore,  and  as  it  is  coming  down  from 
the  hills  you  may  not  see  it  on  the  water  until  it  is 
quite  close  to  you." 

The  boats  were  lowered,  and  the  men,  armed  with 
musket  and  cutlass,  took  their  places.  Frank  and 
George  Lechmere  each  had  a  cutlass  and  a  revolver 
buckled  to  the  waist. 

"  Now  give  way,  lads,"  Frank  said.  "  She  is  about 
two  miles  ahead  of  us,  and  we  ought  to  overtake  her 
in  half  an  hour." 

It  was  now  getting  dusk,  the  light  fading  out  sud- 
denly as  the  clouds  spread  over  the  sky.  Frank's  last 
orders  to  the  skipper  before  leaving  were : 

"  Edge  her  in,  Hawkins,  until  you  are  dead  astern 
of  the  brigantine.  Then  if  the  squall  comes  down  be- 
fore we  reach  her,  we  shall  be  right  in  your  track." 

"  I  have  put  a  lighted  lantern  into  the  stern  sheets 
of  each  boat,  sir,  and  have  thrown  a  bit  of  sail  cloth 
over  them,  so  that  if  she  leaves  you  behind  and  you 
hold  it  up  there  won't  be  any  fear  of  our  missing  you." 

The  men  rowed  hard,  but  the  gig  had  to  stop  fre- 
quently to  let  the  dingey  come  up.  They  gained,  how- 
ever, fast  upon  the  brig,  and  in  half  an  hour  were  but 
a  few  hundred  yards  astern.  Then  came  a  hail  from 
the  brigantine  in  French : 

"  Keep  off  or  we  will  sink  you !  " 

No  reply  was  made.  They  were  but  two  hundred 
yards  away  when  there  were  two  bright  flashes  from 
the  stern  of  the  brigantine,  and  a  shower  of  bullets 
splashed  round  the  boats.  There  were  two  or  three 
cries  of  pain,  and  George  Lechmere  felt  Frank  give  a 
sudden  start. 

"  Are  you  hit,  sir?  " 

"I  have  got  a  bullet  in  my  left  shoulder,  George, 
but  it  is  of  no  consequence.  Row  on,  lads,"  he  shouted. 
"  We  shall  be  alongside  before  they  have  time  to  load 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  245 

again.  I  never  thought  of  their  having  guns,  though," 
he  went  on,  as  the  men  recovered  from  their  surprise, 
and  dashed  on  again  with  a  cheer.  "  By  the  sharp 
crack  they  must  be  brass.  I  suppose  he  picked  up  a 
couple  of  small  guns  at  Ostend,  thinking  that  they 
might  be  useful  to  him  in  these  waters." 

A  splattering  fire  of  musketry  now  broke  out  from 
the  brigantine.  They  had  lessened  their  distance  by 
half  when  they  saw  the  brigantine,  without  apparent 
cause,  heel  over.  Farther  and  farther  she  went  until 
her  lee  rail  was  under  water.  The  firing  instantly 
ceased,  and  there  were  loud  shouts  on  board;  then,  as 
she  came  up  into  the  wind,  the  square  yards  were  let 
fall,  and  the  crew  ran  up  the  rattlings  to  secure  the 
sails.  Simultaneously  the  foresail  came  down,  then 
her  head  payed  off  again,  and  she  darted  away  like  an 
arrow  from  the  boats.  These,  however,  had  ceased 
rowing.  Frank,  as  he  saw  the  brigantine  bowing  over, 
had  shouted  to  Purvis  to  put  the  boat's  head  to  the 
wind,  doing  the  same  himself.  A  few  seconds  after- 
wards the  squall  struck  them  with  such  force  that  some 
of  the  oars  were  wrenched  from  the  hands  of  the  men, 
who  were  unprepared  for  the  attack. 

"  Steady,  men,  steady !  "  Frank  shouted.  "  It  won't 
last  long.  Keep  on  rowing,  so  as  to  hold  the  boat  where 
you  are  till  the  yacht  comes  along.  It  won't  be  many 
minutes  before  she  is  here." 

In  little  over  a  quarter  of  an  hour  she  was  seen 
approaching,  and  Frank  saw  that  in  spite  of  the  efforts 
of  the  men  at  the  oars  the  boats  had  been  blown  some 
distance  to  leeward.  However,  as  soon  as  the  lanterns 
were  held  up  the  Osprey  altered  her  course,  and  the 
captain,  taking  her  still  further  to  leeward,  threw 
her  head  up  to  the  wind  until  they  rowed  alongside 
her. 

Frank  had  by  this  time  learned  that  one  of  the  men 
in  the  bow  had  been  killed  and  that  three  besides  him- 


246  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

self  had  been  wounded.  Two  were  wounded  on  board 
the  dingey. 

"  So  they  have  got  some  guns,"  the  skipper  said, 
as  they  climbed  on  deck ;  "  no  one  hurt,  I  hope  ?  " 

"  There  is  one  killed,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  and  five 
wounded,"  Frank  replied ;  "  but  none  of  them  seri- 
ously. I  have  got  a  bullet  in  my  shoulder,  but  that  is 
of  no  great  consequence.  So  yo'u  got  through  it  all 
right?" 

"  Yes,  sir,  it  looked  so  nasty  that  I  got  the  square- 
sail  off  her  and  the  topsail  on  deck  before  it  struck  us, 
and  as  we  ran  the  foresail  down  just  as  it  came  we 
were  all  right,  and  only  just  got  the  water  on  deck. 
It  was  as  well,  though,  that  we  were  lying  becalmed; 
as  it  was,  she  jumped  away  directly  she  felt  it.  I  was 
just  able  to  see  the  brigantine,  and  it  seemed  to  me 
that  she  had  a  narrow  escape  of  turning  turtle." 

"  Yes,  they  were  too  much  occupied  with  us  to 
be  keeping  a  sharp  look-out  at  the  sky,  and  if  it  had 
been  a  little  stronger  it  would  have  been  a  close  case 
with  her.  Thank  God  that  it  was  no  worse.  Can  you 
make  her  out  still  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  can  see  her  plainly  enough  with  my 
glasses." 

In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  strength  of  the  squall 
was  spent.  The  wind  then  veered  round  to  its  former 
quarter,  taking  the  Osprey  along  at  the  rate  of  some 
five  knots  an  hour. 

The  wounded  were  now  attended  to.  George  Lech- 
mere  found  that  the  ball  had  broken  Frank's  collar 
bone  and  gone  out  behind.  Both  he  and  Frank  had 
had  sufficient  experience  to  know  what  should  be  done, 
and  after  bathing  the  wound,  an-d  with  the  assistance 
of  two  sailors,  who  pulled  the  arm  into  its  place, 
George  applied  some  splints  to  the  broken  bone  to  keep 
it  firm,  and  then  bandaged  it  and  the  arm. 

One  of  the  sailors  had  a  wound  in  the  cheek,  the 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  247 

ball  in  its  passage  carrying  off  part  of  the  ear,  one  of 
the  men  sitting  in  the  bow  had  a  broken  arm,  but  only 
one  of  the  others  was  seriously  hurt.  Frank  went  on 
deck  again  as  soon  as  his  shoulder  was  bandaged  and 
his  left  arm  strapped  tightly  to  his  side. 

"  I  suppose  that  she  is  still  gaining  on  us,  Haw- 
kins?" 

"  Yes,  she  is  dropping  us.  I  reckon  she  has  gone 
fast,  sir,  fully  half  a  knot,  though  we  have  got  all 
sail  set." 

"  There  is  one  comfort,"  Frank  said ;  "  the  coast 
from  here  as  far  as  the  Bee  is  so  precipitous  that  they 
won't  have  a  chance  of  putting  the  boat  ashore  until 
they  get  past  that  point,  and  by  the  time  they  are  there 
daylight  will  have  broken." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  stars  were  bright,  and  with  the  aid  of  a  night 
glass  the  brigantine  was  kept  in  sight,  the  sailors  re- 
lieving each  other  at  the  mast  head  every  half-hour. 
Frank  would  have  stayed  on  deck  all  night  had  not 
George  Lechmere  persuaded  him  to  go  below. 

"  Look  here,  Major,"  he  said ;  "  it  is  like  enough 
that  we  may  have  a  stiff  bit  of  fighting  to-morrow. 
Now  we  know  that  those  fellows  have  guns,  though 
they  may  be  but  two  or  three  pounders,  and  it  is  clear 
that  it  is  not  going  to  be  altogether  such  a  one-sided 
job  as  we  looked  for.  You  have  had  a  long  day  al- 
ready, sir;  you  have  got  an  ugly  wound,  and  if  you 
don't  lie  down  and  keep  yourself  quiet  you  won't  be 
fit  to  do  your  share  in  any  fighting  to-morrow;  and 
I  reckon  that  you  would  like  to  be  in  the  front  of  this 
skirmish.  You  know  in  India  wounds  inflamed  very 
soon  if  one  did  not  keep  quiet  with  them,  and  I  ex- 
pect that  it  is  just  the  same  here.  It  is  not  as  if  you 
could  do  any  good  on  deck.  The  men  are  just  as  anx- 
ious to  catch  that  brigantine  as  you  are.  They  were 
hot  enough  before,  but  now  that  one  of  their  mates 
has  been  killed  and  five  or  six  wounded,  I  believe  that 
they  would  go  round  the  world  rather  than  let  her  slip 
through  their  hands.  I  shall  be  up  and  down  all  night, 
Major,  and  the  captain  and  both  mates  will  be  up  too, 
and  I  promise  that  we  will  let  you  know  if  there  is 
anything  to  tell  you." 

"  Well,  I  will  lie  down,  George,  but  I  know  that  I 
248 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  249 

shall  get  no  sleep;  still,  perhaps,  it  will  be  better  for 
me  to  keep  my  arm  quite  quiet." 

He  was  already  without  his  coat,  for  that  had  been 
cut  from  the  neck  down  to  the  wrist,  to  enable  George 
to  get  at  the  wound.  He  kicked  off  his  light  canvas 
shoes,  and  George  helped  him  to  lie  down  in  his 
berth. 

"  You  will  be  sure  to  let  me  know  if  she  changes 
her  course  or  anything  ?  " 

"  I  promise  you  that  I  will  come  straight  down, 
Major." 

Three  quarters  of  an  hour  later,  George  stole  noise- 
lessly down  and  peeped  into  the  state-room.  He  had 
turned  down  the  swinging  lamp  before  he  went  up, 
but  there  was  enough  light  to  enable  him  to  see  that 
his  master  had  fallen  off  to  sleep.  He  took  the  news  up 
to  Hawkins,  who  at  once  gave  orders  that  no  noise 
whatever  was  to  be  made.  The  men  still  moved  about 
the  deck,  but  all  went  barefooted. 

"  The  wind  keeps  just  the  same,"  Hawkins  said. 
"  I  can't  make  it  more  than  three  and  a  half  knots 
through  the  water.  I  would  give  a  year's  pay  if  it 
would  go  round  dead  ahead  of  us;  we  should  soon  pick 
her  up  then.  As  it  is,  she  keeps  crawling  away.  How- 
ever, we  can  make  her  out  on  such  a  night  as  this  a 
good  deal  further  than  she  is  likely  to  get  before  morn- 
ing; besides,  we  shall  be  having  the  moon  up  soon, 
and  as  we  are  steering  pretty  nearly  east,  it  will  show 
her  up  famously.  Now  I  will  give  yon  the  same  ad- 
vice that  you  gave  the  governor.  You  had  much  better 
lie  down  for  a  bit.  Purvis  has  gone  down  for  a  sleep, 
Perry  will  go  down  when  he  comes  up  at  twelve,  and 
I  shall  get  an  hour  or  two  myself  later  on." 

"  I  won't^go  down,"  George  said,  "  but  I  will  bring 
a  couple  of  blankets  up  and  lie  down  aft.  I  promised 
the  Major  that  I  would  let  him  know  if  there  was  any 
change  in  the  wind  or  in  the  brigantine's  course,  so 


250  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

wake  me  directly  there  is  anything  to  tell  him.  I  have 
put  his  bell  within  reach.  I  have  no  doubt  I  shall 
hear  it  through  that  open  skylight  if  he  rings;  but  if 
not,  wake  me  at  once." 

"All  right;  trust  us  for  that." 

Twice  during  the  night  George  got  up  and  went 
below.  The  first  time  Frank  had  not  moved,  the  second 
he  found  that  the  tumbler  of  lime  juice  and  water  OH 
the  table  at  the  side  of  the  bunk  was  nearly  half 
emptied,  and  that  his  master  had  again  gone  off  to 
sleep  and  was  breathing  quietly  and  regularly. 

"  He  is  going  on  all  right,"  he  said  to  Hawkins, 
when  he  went  up ;  "  there  is  no  fever  yet,  anyhow,  for 
he  has  drunk  only  half  that  glass  of  lime  juice;  if  he 
had  been  feverish  he  would  not  have  stopped  until  he 
had  got  to  the  bottom  of  it." 

When  George  next  woke,  the  morning  was  breaking. 

"  Anything  new  ? "  he  asked  Purvis,  who  was  now 
at  the  tiller. 

"  Nothing  whatever ;  the  governor  has  not  rung  his 
bell.  The  wind  is  just  as  it  was,  neither  better  nor 
"worse,  and  the  brigantine  is  eight  miles  ahead  of  us." 

George  went  forward  to  have  a  look  at  her. 

"I  think  I  had  better  wake  him,"  he  said  to  him- 
self. "  He  will  have  had  nine  hours  of  it,  and  he  won't 
like  it  if  I  don't  let  him  know  that  it  is  daylight.  I 
will  get  two  or  three  fresh  limes  squeezed,  and  then 
go  in  to  him." 

This  time  Frank  opened  his  eyes  as  he  entered. 

"  Morning  is  breaking,  Major,  and  everything  is 
as  it  was.  I  hope  that  you  are  feeling  better  for  your 
sleep.  Let  me  help  you  up.  Here  is  a  tumbler  of  fresh 
lime  juice." 

"  I  feel  right  enough,  George ;  I  can  scarcely  be- 
lieve that  it  is  morning.  How  I  have  slept — and  I  fan- 
cied that  I  should  not  have  gone  off  at  all." 

Drinking  off  the  lime  juice,  Frank  at  once  followed 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  251 

Lechmere  on  deck,  and  after  a  word  or  two  with  Purvis 
hurried  forward. 

"  She  is  a  long  way  ahead,"  he  said,  with  a  tone  of 
disappointment. 

"  The  mate  reckoned  it-  between  seven  and  eight 
miles,  Major." 

"  How  far  is  she  from  the  Bee  ?  " 

"I  don't  know,  sir;  I  did  not  ask  Purvis." 

Frank  went  aft  and  repeated  the  question. 

"  I  fancy  that  that  is  the  Bee,  the  furthermost  point 
that  we  can  see,"  Purvis  said,  "  and  I  reckon  that  she 
is  about  half  way  to  it." 

"Keep  her  a  point  or  two  out,  Purvis.  The  line 
ef  shore  is  pretty  straight  beyond  that,  and  I  want  of 
all  things  not  to  lose  sight  of  her  for  a  moment.  I 
would  give  a  good  deal  to  know  what  she  is  going  to 
do.  I  cannot  think  that  she  is  going  to  try  to  go  round 
the  southeast  point  of  the  island,  for  if  she  were  she 
would  have  laid  her  head  that  way  before." 

The  Osprey  edged  out  until  they  opened  the  line 
of  coast  beyond  the  headland,  and  then  kept  her  course 
again.  There  was  a  trifle  more  wind  as  the  sun  rose 
higher,  and  the  yacht  went  fully  a  knot  faster  through 
the  water.  In  less  than  two  hours  the  brigantine  was 
abreast  of  the  headland.  Presently  Frank  exclaimed: 

"  She  is  hauling  in  her  wind." 

"  That  she  is,  sir,"  Hawkins,  who  had  just  come 
on  deck,  exclaimed.  "  She  surely  cannot  be  going  to 
run  into  the  bay." 

"  She  can  be  going  to  do  nothing  else,"  Frank  said. 
"  What  on  earth  does  she  mean  by  it  ?  No  doubt  that 
scoundrel  is  going  to  land  with  Miss  Greendale,  but 
why  should  he  leave  the  Phantom  at  our  mercy  when 
he  could  have  sent  her  on  to  Port  au  Prince  ? " 

"  I  cannot  think  what  he  is  doing,  sir ;  but  he  must 
have  some  game  on  or  he  would  never  act  like  that." 

"  Of  course,  he  may  have  arranged  to  go  with  the 


252  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

lady  to  some  place  up  in  the  hills;  but  why  should 
he  sacrifice  the  yacht  ? " 

"  It  is  a  rum  start  anyhow,  and  I  cannot  make  head 
or  tail  of  it.  Of  course  you  will  capture  her,  sir  ? " 

"  I  don't  know,  Hawkins.  It  is  one  thing  to  at- 
tack her  when  she  has  Miss  Greendale  on  board,  but 
if  she  has  gone  ashore  it  would  be  very  like  an  act  of 
piracy." 

"Yes,  sir;  but  then,  you  see,  they  fired  into  our 
boat,  and  killed  one  of  our  men  and  wounded  you  and 
four  or  five  others." 

"  That  is  right  enough,  Hawkins,  but  we  cannot 
deny  that  they  did  it  in  self-defence.  Of  course,  we 
know  that  they  must  have  recognised  us,  and  knew 
what  our  errand  was,  but  her  captain  and  crew  would 
be  ready  to  swear  that  they  didn't,  and  that  they  were 
convinced  by  our  actions  that  we  were  pirates.  At 
any  rate,  you  may  be  sure  that  the  blacks  would  retain 
both  craft,  and  that  we  should  be  held  prisoners  for 
some  considerable  time,  while  Miss  Greendale  would 
be  a  captive  in  the  hands  of  Carthew.  I  should  attack 
the  brigantine  if  I  knew  her  to  be  on  board,  and  should 
be  justified  in  doing  so,  even  if  it  cost  a  dozen  lives  to 
capture  her,  but  I  don't  think  I  should  be  justified  in 
risking  a  single  life  in  attacking  the  brigantine  if  she 
were  not  on  board.  To  do  so  would,  in  the  first  place, 
be  a  distinct  act  of  piracy;  and  in  the  second,  if  we 
got  possession  of  the  brigantine  we  should  have  gained 
nothing  by  it." 

"  We  might  burn  her,  sir." 

"Yes,  we  might,  and  run  the  risk  of  being  hung 
for  it.  We  might  take  her  into  Port  au  Prince,  but 
•we  have  no  absolute  evidence  against  her.  We  could 
not  swear  that  we  had  positive  knowledge  that  Miss 
Greendale  was  on  board,  and  certain  as  I  am  that  the 
female  figures  I  made  out  on  the  deck  were  she  and 
her  maid,  they  were  very  much  too  far  away  to  recog- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  253 

nise  them,  and  the  skipper  might  swear  that  they  were 
two  negresses  to  whom  he  was  giving  a  passage.  More- 
over, if  I  took  the  brigantine  I  should  only  cut  off 
Carthew's  escape  in  that  direction;  his  power  over 
Miss  Greendale  would  be  just  as  great,  if  he  had  her 
up  among  those  mountains  among  the  blacks,  as  it  was 
when  he  had  her  on  board.  I  can  see  that  I  have  made 
a  horrible  mess  of  the  whole  business,  and  that  is  the 
only  thing  that  I  can  see.  Yesterday  I  thought  it  was 
the  best  thing  to  start  on  a  direct  chase,  as  it  seemed 
absolutely  certain  to  me  that  we  should  overhaul  and 
capture  her;  now  I  see  that  it  was  the  worst  thing 
I  could  have  done,  and  that  I  ought  to  have  waited 
until  I  could  take  her  in  the  bay." 

"  But  you  see,  Major,"  said  George  Lechmere,  who 
was  standing  by,  "  if  we  had  gone  on  searching  with 
the  boat,  before  we  had  made  an  examination  of  the 
whole  bay,  there  would  be  no  knowing  where  she  had 
gone,  and  it  might  have  been  months  before  we  could 
have  got  fairly  on  her  track  again." 

"  No,  we  acted  for  the  best ;  but  things  have  turned 
out  badly,  and  I  feel  more  hopelessly  at  sea  as  to  what 
we  had  better  do  next  than  I  have  done  since  the  day 
I  got  to  Ostend.  At  any  rate,  there  is  nothing  to  be 
done  until  we  have  got  a  fair  sight  of  the  brigantine." 

It  seemed  to  all  on  board  that  the  Osprey  had  never 
sailed  so  sluggishly  as  she  did  for  the  next  hour  and  a 
half.  As  they  expected,  no  craft  was  to  be  seen  on 
the  waters  of  the  bay  as  they  rounded  the  point,  but 
Dominique  and  the  other  pilot  had  been  closely  ques- 
tioned, and  both  asserted  that  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
bay  there  was  a  branch  that  curved  round  "  like  dat, 
Bar,"  the  latter  said,  half  closing  his  little  finger. 

Progress  up  the  bay  was  so  slow  that  the  boats  were 
lowered  and  the  yacht  was  towed  to  the  mouth  of  the 
curved    branch.      Here    they    were    completely    land- 
locked, and  the  breeze  died  away  altogether. 
17 


254  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  How  long  is  this  bend,  Jake  ? "  Frank  asked  the 
second  pilot  in  French. 

"Two  miles,  sir;  perhaps  two  miles  and  a  half." 

"  Deep  water  everywhere  ?  " 

"  Plenty  of  water ;  can  anchor  close  to  shore. 
Country  boats  run  in  here  very  often  if  bad  weather 
comes  on.  Foreign  ships  never  come  here;  they  al- 
ways run  on  to  the  town." 

"You  told  us  that  there  were  a  few  huts  at  the 
end." 

"  Yes,  sir ;  there  is  a  village  there,  two  others  near." 

The  crew  had  all  armed  themselves,  and  the  muskets 
were  again  placed  ready  for  use. 

"  You  had  better  go  round,  Hawkins,"  Frank  said, 
"  and  tell  them  that  on  no  account  is  a  shot  to  be  fired 
unless  I  give  orders.  Tell  the  men  that  I  am  just  as 
anxious  to  fight  as  they  are,  and  that  if  they  give  us 
a  shadow  of  excuse  we  will  board  them." 

"  I  went  round  among  the  men  half  an  hour  ago, 
sir,  and  told  them  how  the  land  lay,  and  Lechmere 
has  been  doing  the  same.  They  all  want  to  fight,  but 
I  have  made  them  see  that  it  might  be  a  very  awkward 
business  for  us  all." 

The  men  in  the  boats  were  told  to  take  it  easy,  and 
it  was  the  best  part  of  an  hour  before  they  saw,  on 
turning  the  last  bend,  the  brigantine  lying  at  anchor 
a  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away. 

"  She  looks  full  of  men,"  Frank  exclaimed,  as  he 
turned  his  glasses  upon  her. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  the  captain,  who  was  using  a  power- 
ful telescope,  "  they  are  blacks.  There  must  be  fifty 
of  them  beside  the  crew,  and  as  far  as  I  can  see  most 
of  them  are  armed." 

"  That  explains  why  he  came  in  here,  Hawkins. 
They  have  been  using  this  place  for  the  last  three 
weeks,  and  no  doubt  have  made  good  friends  with  the 
negroes.  I  dare  say  Carthew  has  spent  his  money 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  255 

freely  on  them.  Well,  this  settles  it.  We  would  at- 
tack them  at  sea  without  hesitation,  however  many 
blacks  there  might  be  on  board,  but  to  do  so  now  would 
be  the  height  of  folly.  Five  of  our  men  are  certainly^ 
not  fit  for  fighting,  so  that  their  strength  in  whites  is 
nearly  equal  to  ours.  They  have  got  those  two  little 
cannon,  which  would  probably  reduce  our  number  a 
bit  before  we  got  alongside,  and  with  fifty  blacks  to 
help  them  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  we  should  be 
able  to  take  them  by  boarding.  Certainly  we  could 
not  do  so  without  very  heavy  loss.  We  will  anchor 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  outside  her.  As 
long  as  she  lies  quiet  there  we  will  leave  her  alone; 
if  she  tries  to  make  off  we  will  board  her  at  once. 
Anchor  with  the  kedge ;  that  will  hold  her  here.  Have 
a  buoy  on  the  cable  and  have  it  ready  to  slip  at  a  mo- 
ment's notice,  and  the  sails  all  ready  to  hoist." 

"Easy  rowing,"  the  captain  called  to  the  men  in 
the  boats,  "  and  come  alongside ;  we  have  plenty  of 
way  on  her  to  take  up  a  berth." 

In  two  or  three  minutes  the  anchor  was  dropped 
and  the  sails  lowered. 

"  Now  I  will  row  across  to  her,"  Frank  said,  "  and 
tell  them  that  I  don't  want  to  attack  them,  but  I  am 
determined  to  search  their  craft." 

"No,  Major,"  George  Lechmere  said,  firmly;  "we 
are  not  going  to  let  you  throw  away  your  life,  and 
you  have  no  right  to  do  it — at  any  rate  not  until  after 
Miss  Greendale  is  rescued.  You  may  be  sure  of  one 
thing:  that  Carthew  has  left  orders  before  going  on 
shore  that  you  are  to  be  shot  if  you  come  within  range. 
He  will  know  that  if  you  are  killed  there  will  be  an 
end  of  the  trouble.  I  .will  go  myself,  sir." 

Frank  made  no  answer  for  a  minute  or  two.  Then 
he  said: 

"  In  that  case  you  would  be  shot  instead  of  me. 
If  Carthew  is  on  shore,  as  I  feel  sure  he  is,  the  others 


356  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

won't  know  you  from  me.  I  agree  with  you  that  I 
cannot  afford  to  risk  my  life  just  now,  and  yet  we 
must  search  that  brigantine." 

"  Me  go,  sar  ? "  Dominique,  who  was  standing  by, 
said  suddenly.  "  Me  take  two  black  fellows  in  dingey. 
Dey  no  fire  at  us.  Me  go  dere,  tell  captain  dat  you  no 
want  to  have  to  kill  him  and  all  his  crew,  but  dat  you 
got'  to  search  dat  craft.  If  he  let  search  be  made,  den 
no  harm  come  of  it;  if  he  say  no,  den  we  take  yacht 
alongside  and  kill  every  man  jack.  Say  dat  white 
sailors  all  furious,  because  dey  fire  at  us  yesterday, 
and  want  bad  to  have  fight." 

"  Very  well,  Dominique ;  it  can  do  no  harm  any- 
how, and  as  I  feel  sure  that  the  lady  has  been  taken 
ashore,  I  don't  see  why  they  should  refuse." 

Accordingly  Dominique  called  to  two  of  the  negro 
boatmen  to  get  into  the  dingey  and  took  his  seat  in 
the  stern.  When  the  boat  was  half  way  between  the 
two  vessels  there  was  a  hail  in  French: 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  If  you  come  nearer  we  will 
fire." 

"  What  want  to  fire  for  ?  "  Dominique  shouted  back. 
"  Me  pilot,  me  no  capture  ship,  single-handed ;  me 
want  to  speak  to  captain." 

It  was  evident  the  answer  was  understood,  for  no 
reply  came  for  a  minute  or  two. 

"  Well,  come  along  then." 

The  words  could  be  heard  perfectly  on  board  the 
:yacht. 

"  The  skipper  talks  English,  George ;  I  thought 
.  that  he  would  do  so.  Carthew  was  sure  to  have  shipped 
j.  someone  who  could  understand  him.  I  don't  suppose 
I  his  French  is  any  better  than  mine  is." 
•|  The  dingey  was  rowed  to  within  ten  yards  of  die 
*  brigantine. 

"  Now,  what  message  have  you  brought  me  from 
that  pirate?" 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  257 

"  Him  no  pirate  at  all ;  you  know  dat  bery  well, 
xnassa  captain.  Dat  English  yacht;  anyone  see  dat 
with  half  an  eye.  De  gentleman  there  says  you  have 
a  lady  on  board  dat  has  been  carried  off." 

"  Then  he  is  a  liar ! "  the  Belgian  said ;  "  there  is 
no  woman  on  board  at  all !  " 

"  Well,  sar,  dat  am  a  matter  ob  opinion.  English 
gentleman  tink  dat  you  hab;  you  say  no.  Dat  prove 
bery  easy.  De  gentleman  say  he  wants  to  search  ship. 
If  as  you  say,  she  is  no  here,  den  ob  course  no  reason 
for  you  to  say  no  to  dat.  If  on  de  other  hand  you  say 
no,  den  he  quite  sure  he  right,  and  he  come  and  search 
whether  you  like  it  or  no.  Den  der  big  fight.  Bery 
strong  crew  on  board  dat  yacht.  Plenty  guns,  men 
all  bery  savage,  cause  you  kill  one  of  der  fellows  last 
night.  Dey  want  to  fight  bad,  and  if  dey  come  dey 
kill  many.  What  de  use  of  dat,  sar?  Why  say  won't 
let  search  if  lady  not  here?  Nothing  to  fight  about. 
But  if  you  not  let  us  see  she  not  here,  den  we  board  de 
ship,  and  when  we  take  her  we  burn  her." 

The  Belgian  stood  for  two  or  three  minutes  with- 
out answering.  They  had  seen  that  there  were  two 
or  three  and  twenty  men  on  board  the  Osprey,  and 
they  were  by  no  means  sure  that  this  was  the  entire 
number.  There  were  three  blacks,  and  there  might 
be  a  number  of  them  lying  down  behind  the  bulwarks 
or  kept  below.  The  issue  of  a  fight  seemed  to  him 
doubtful ;  he  was  by  no  means  sure  that  his  men  would 
fight  hard  in  a  cause  in  which  they  had  no  personal 
interest;  and  as  for  the  blacks,  they  would  not  count 
for  much  in  a  hand-to-hand  fight  with  English  sailors. 
He  had  received  no  orders  as  to  what  to  do  in  such  a 
contingency.  Presently  he  turned  to  three  of  his  men 
and  said  in  French: 

"  Go  to  that  stern  cabin,  and  see  that  there  is  noth- 
ing about  that  would  show  that  it  has  been  occupied. 
They  have  asked  to  search  us.  Let  them  come  and 


258  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

find  nothing,  things  will  go  quietly;  if  not,  they  say 
they  will  attack  us  and  kill  every  man  on  board  and 
burn  the  ship,  and  as  we  do  not  know  how  many  men 
they  may  have  on  board,  and  as  they  can  do  us  no 
harm  by  looking  round,  if  there  is  nothing  for  them 
to  find,  we  had  best  let  them  do  it;  but  mind,  the 
orders  hold  good.  If  the  owner  of  that  troublesome 
craft  comes  alongside  you  are  to  pour  in  a  volley  and 
kill  him  and  the  sailors  with  him.  That  will  make  so 
many  less  to  fight  if  it  comes  to  fighting.  But  the 
owner  tells  me  that  if  he  is  once  killed  there  will  be 
an  end  of  it." 

He  then  went  to  the  side,  and  said  to  Dominique : 

"  There  is  nothing  for  you  to  find  here.  We  are 
an  honest  trader,  and  there  is  nothing  worth  a  pirate's 
stealing;  but  in  order  to  show  you  that  I  am  speaking 
the  truth  I  have  no  objection  to  two  hands  coining  on 
board  and  going  through  her.  We  have  nothing  to 
hide." 

Dominique  rowed  back  to  the  yacht. 

"Dey  will  let  her  be  searched,  sar." 

"  I  thought  they  would,"  Frank  said ;  "  and  of 
course  that  is  a  sign  that  there  is  no  one  there." 

"  I  will  go,  sir,"  the  skipper  said,  "  as  we  agreed ; 
he  would  give  anything  to  get  rid  of  you,  and  you 
might  be  met  with  a  volley  when  you  came  alongside. 
And  now  there  ain't  no  use  in  running  risks.  If  they 
have  been  told  what  you  are  like,  they  cannot  mistake 
me  for  you.  You  are  pretty  near  a  foot  taller,  and 
you  are  better  than  ten  years  younger,  and  I  haven't 
any  hair  on  my  face.  I  will  go  through  her.  I  am 
sure  the  lady  ain't  there,  or  they  would  not  let  me. 
Still,  I  will  make  sure.  There  are  no  hiding-places  in 
a  yacht  where  anyone  could  be  stowed  away,  and,  of 
course,  she  is,  like  us,  chock  full  of  ballast  up  to  the 
floor.  I  shan't  be  many  minutes  about  it,  sir.  Domi- 
nique may  as  well  go  with  me;  he  can  stay  on  deck 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  259 

•while  I  go  below,  and  may  pick  up  something  from 
the  black  fellows  there." 

"You  may  as  well  take  him,  Hawkins;  but  you 
may  be  very  sure  that  they  won't  give  him  a  chance 
to  speak  to  anyone." 

The  captain  stepped  into  the  boat  and  was  rowed 
to  the  yacht.  He  and  Dominique  stepped  on  to  the 
deck  and  were  lost  sight  of  among  the  blacks.  In  ten 
minutes  they  appeared  at  the  gangway  again,  and 
stepped  into  their  boat.  Another  minute  and  she  was 
alongside  the  Osprey. 

"  Of  course,  you  found  nothing,  Hawkins." 

"Nothing  whatever,  sir.  Anything  the  lady  may 
have  left  behind  had  been  stowed  away  in  lockers.  I 
looked  about  to  see  if  I  could  sight  a  bit  of  ribbon 
or  some  other  woman's  fal-lal,  but  they  had  gone  over 
it  carefully.  Two  of  the  other  state  cabins  had  been 
occupied.  There  were  men's  clothes  hanging  there. 
Of  course,  I  looked  into  every  cupboard  where  as  much 
as  a  child  could  have  been  stowed  away,  and  looked 
round  the  forecastle.  Anyhow,  there  is  no  woman  there 
now.  Dominique  had  to  go  round  with  me.  The  cap- 
tain evidently  did  not  want  to  give  him  a  chance  of 
speaking  to  anyone.  The  mate  and  two  of  the  sailors 
posted  themselves  at  the  gangway,  so  that  the  two 
black*  should  not  be  able  to  talk  to  the  niggers  on 
board.  And  now,  sir,  what  is  to  be  done  next?" 

"  We  will  go  below  and  talk  it  over,  captain.  You 
come  down,  too,  George.  Yes,  and  Dominique;  he 
may  be  useful.  Xow,  Hawkins,"  he  went  on,  when 
they  had  taken  their  seats  at  the  table,  "  of  course,  I 
have  been  thinking  it  over  all  the  morning,  and  I  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  our  only  chance  now  is  to 
fight  them  with  their  own  weapons.  As  long  as  we  lie 
here  there  is  no  chance  whatever  of  Miss  Greendale 
being  brought  on  board  again,  so  the  chase  now  has 
got  to  be  carried  on  on  land.  If  we  go  to  work  the 


260  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

right  way,  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  be 
able  to  trace  her.  I  propose  to  take  Lechmere  and 
Dominique  and  the  four  black  boatmen.  If  we  stain 
our  faces  a  little,  and  put  on  a  pair  of  duck  trousers, 
"white  shirts,  red  sashes,  and  these  broad  straw  hats  I 
bought  at  San  Domingo,  we  shall  look  just  like  the 
half-caste  planters  we  saw  in  the  streets  there.  I 
should  take  Pedro,  too,  but  you  will  want  him  to  trans- 
late anything  you  have  to  say  to  Jake.  I  propose  that 
as  soon  as  it  is  dark  to-night  we  muffle  the  oars  of  the 
dingey  and  row  away  and  land  lower  down,  say  a  mile 
or  so,  and  then  make  off  up  into  the  hills  before  to- 
morrow morning.  Dominique  will  try  to  find  out 
something  by  inquiring  at  some  of  the  huts  of  the 
blacks.  "  They  are  not  likely  to  know,  but  if  he  offers 
them  a  handsome  reward  to  obtain  news  for  him,  they 
will  go  down  to  the  villages  and  ferret  out  something. 
The  people  there  would  not  be  likely  to  know  where 
they  have  been  taken,  but  they  would  be  able  to  point 
out  the  direction  in  which  they  went  on  startizag.  Then 
we  could  follow  that  up,  and  inquire  again.  We  might 
take  a  couple  of  the  villagers  with  us.  Belonging  here, 
they  would  have  more  chance  of  getting  news  from 
other  blacks  than  strangers  would  have." 

"  Don't  you  think,  sir,  that  it  would  be  as  well  to 
have  four  or  five  men  with  you  ? "  Hawkins  said. 
"  There  is  no  doubt  this  fellow  that  you  are  after  is 
a  desperate  chap,  and  he  may  have  got  a  strong  body 
of  these  blacks  as  a  guard.  He  might  suspect  that, 
after  having  pursued  him  all  this  way,  you  might  try 
to  follow  him  on  land.  You  could  put  the  men  in  hid- 
ing somewhere  every  day  while  you  were  making  in- 
quiries, and  they  would  be  mighty  handy  if  it  came 
to  fighting,  which  it  seems  to  me  it  is  pretty  sure  to 
do  before  you  see  the  lady  off." 

"Well,  perhaps  it  would  be  best,  Hawkins;  and, 
as  you  say,  by  keeping  them  hid  all  clay  I  don't  see 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  261 

that  they  could  increase  our  difficulties.  But  their, 
you  see,  you  will  want  all  your  hands  here,  for  if  the 
brigantine  sails,  whether  by  night  or  day,  you  are  to 
sail  too,  and  to  keep  close  to  her  wherever  she  goes. 
It  is  not  likely  that  Carthew  and  Miss  Greendale  will 
be  on  hoard,  but  he  may  very  well  send  orders  down 
to  the  brigantine  to  get  up  the  anchor.  He  would  know 
that  we  should  stick  to  her,  as  Miss  Greendale  might 
have  been  taken  on  board  again  at  night.  In  that  way 
he  would  get  rid  of  us  from  here,  and  would  calculate 
that  we  should  get  tired  of  following  the  brigantine 
in  time,  or  that  she  would  be  able  to  give  us  the  slip, 
and  would  then  make  for  some  place  where  he  could 
join  her  again.  So  my  orders  to  you  will  be  to  stick 
to  her,  but  not  to  interfere  with  her  in  any  way,  un- 
less, by  any  chance,  you  should  discover  that  Miss 
Greendale  is  really  on  board.  In  that  case  I  authorise 
you  to  board  and  capture  her.  They  won't  have  the 
Blacks  on  board,  and  as  the  wounded  are  going  on  all 
right,  and  three  of  them  anyhow  will  be  able  to  lend 
a  hand  in  a  couple  of  days,  you  will  be  a  match  for 
them,  especially  as  they  will  soon  make  up  their  minds 
that  you  don't  mean  to  attack  them,  and  you  will  get  a 
chance  of  running  alongside  and  taking  them  by  sur- 
prise." 

"  Well,  sir,  I  think  that  we  can  do  that  with  four 
hands  less  than  we  have  now.  You  see,  there  are  nine- 
teen and  the  two  mates  and  myself.  Say  two  of  the 
wounded  won't  be  able  to  lend  a  hand,  that  makes  us 
twenty,  to  say  nothing  of  Jake  and  Pedro.  So  even 
if  you  took  four  hands  we  should  be  pretty  even  in 
numbers,  and  if  our  men  could  not  each  whip  two 
Belgians,  they  had  better  give  up  the  sea." 

"  Yee,  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  could  do  that,  and 
were  it  not  for  Carthew  and  his  friend  I  would  not 
hesitate  to  take  eight  men.  I  don't  know  about  the 
other,  but  you  may  be  sure  that  Carthew  will  fight 


262  THK  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

hard;  he  is  playing  a  desperate  game.  Still  I  think 
that  I  might  take  four,  especially  as  I  think  the  chance 
of  Miss  Greendale's  being  brought  on  board  until  he 
believes  that  we  have  left  these  waters  is  very  small. 
Very  well,  then,  that  is  settled.  The  five  blacks,  Lech- 
mere  and  myself,  and  four  of  the  sailors,  will  make 
a  strong  party.  Serve  muskets  and  cutlasses  out  to 
the  blacks,  and  the  same  with  a  brace  of  pistols  to  each 
of  the  hands  that  go  with  us.  While  we  are  away  let 
two  of  the  men  dress  up  in  my  white  duck  shirts  and 
jackets,  and  in  white  straw  hats.  Let  them  always 
keep  aft  and  sit  about  in  the  deck  chairs  and  always 
go  down  below  by  the  main  companion.  That  will 
make  them  think  that  I  am  still  on  board;  while  if 
there  is  no  one  on  the  deck  aft  they  will  soon  guess 
that  we  have  landed.  You  understand  all  that  we  have 
been  saying,  Dominique  ?  " 

"  Me  understand,  sar,  and  tink  him  bery  good  plan. 
Me  suah  to  find  out  which  way  dat  rascal  hab  gone. 
Plenty  of  black  fellows  glad  to  earn  two  dollar  to  guide 
us;  dey  no  money  here,  two  dollars  big  sum  to  them." 

"  All  right,  Dominique,  but  we  won't  stick  at  two 
dollars;  if  it  were  necessary  I  would  pay  two  hundred 
cheerfully  for  news." 

"We  find  dem  widout  dat,"  the  black  said,  confi- 
dently; "not  good  offer  too  much.  If  black  man  of- 
fered two  dollars  he  bery  glad;  if  offered  twenty  he 
begin  to  say  to  himself,  '  Dis  bery  good  affair ;  per- 
haps someone  else  give  forty.'  " 

"  There  is  something  in  that,  Dominique ;  anyhow 
I  shall  leave  that  part  of  the  business  to  you.  As  a 
rule  I  shall  keep  in  hiding  with  the  boatmen  and 
sailors  all  day.  I  shall  be  no  good  for  asking  questions, 
for  I  don't  know  much  French  and  the  dialect  the 
negroes  of  these  islands  speak  is  beyond  me  altogether. 
I  cannot  understand  the  boatmen  at  all.'' 

"Black  men  here  bad.  sar:  not  like  dom  in  de  other 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  263 

islands.  Here  dcy  tink  themselves  better  than  white 
men;  bery  ignorant  fellows,  sar.  Most  of  them  lost 
religion,  and  go  back  to  fetish.  Bery  bad  dat.  All 
sorts  of  bad  things  in  dat  affair.  Kill  children  and 
women  to  make  fetish.  Bad  people,  sar,  and  dey  are 
worse  here  than  at  San  Domingo." 

There  was  nothing  to  do  all  day  but  to  sit  on  deck 
and  watch  the  brigantine.  Most  of  the  blacks  had  been 
landed,  and  only  three  or  four  sailors  remained  on 
watch  on  deck.  Frank  and  George  Lechmere  in  their 
broad  straw  hats  sat  and  smoked  in  the  deck  chairs, 
the  former's  eyes  wandering  over  the  mountains  as  if 
in  search  of  something  that  might  point  out  Bertha's 
hiding-place.  The  hills  were  for  the  most  part  covered 
with  trees,  with  here  and  there  a  little  clearing  and 
a  patch  of  cultivated  ground,  with  two  or  three  huts 
in  the  centre.  With  the  glasses  solitary  huts  could  be 
seen  half  hidden  by  trees  here  and  there,  and  an  oc- 
casional little  wreath  of  light  smoke  curling  up  showed 
that  there  were  others  entirely  hidden  in  the  forest. 

"  Don't  you  think,  Major,"  George  Lechmere  said 
after  a  long  pause,  "  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to 
have  the  gig  every  night  at  some  point  agreed  on,  such 
as  the  spot  where  we  land?  You  see,  sir,  there  is  no 
saying  what  may  happen.  We  may  have  to  make  a 
running  fight  of  it,  and  it  would  be  very  handy  to1  have 
the  boat  to  fall  back  upon." 

"  Yes,  I  think  that  a  good  idea,  George.  I  will  tell 
Hawkins  to  send  it  ashore,  say  at  ten  o'clock  every 
night.  There  is  no  chance  whatever  of  our  being 
down  before  that.  They  are  sure  to  have  taken  her  a 
long  distance  up  the  hills,  and  though,  of  course,  one 
cannot  say  at  present,  it  is  pretty  certain  that  we  shall 
have  to  attack  after  dark.  It  is  important  that  we 
should  land  where  there  is  some  sort  of  a  path.  I 
noticed  one  or  two  such  places  as  we  came  along.  Wo 
may  as  well  get  into  the  dingey  and  row  down  and 


264  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

choose  a  spot  now.  Of  course,  they  will  be  watching 
from  the  brigantine,  but  when  they  see  the  same  num- 
ber that  went  come  back  again  they  will  suppose  that 
we  have  only  gone  for  a  row,  or  perhaps  to  get  a  shot 
at  anything  we  come  across.  We  may  as  well  take  a 
couple  of  guns  with  us." 

A  mile  down  the  inlet  they  came  upon  just  the  spot 
they  were  searching  for.  The  shore  was  level  for  a  few 
yards  from  the  water's  edge,  and  from  here  there  was 
a  well-marked  path  going  up  the  slope  behind. 

"  We  will  fix  upon  this  spot,  George ;  it  will  be  easy 
for  the  boats  to  find  it  in  the  dark,  from  that  big  tree 
close  to  the  water's  edge.  Now  we  will  paddle  about 
for  half  an  hour  before  we  go  back." 

An  hour  later  they  returned  to  the  yacht,  and 
George  began  at  once  to  make  arrangements  for  the 
landing. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

"I  SHOULD  keep  watch  and  watch  regularly,  Haw- 
kins. I  do  not  say  that  it  is  likely,  but  it  is  quite  pos- 
sible that  they  may  make  an  attempt  to  surprise  us, 
cut  all  our  throats,  and  then  sink  the  Osprey.  He 
might  attack  with  his  boats,  and  with  a  lot  of  native 
craft.  At  any  rate,  it  is  worth  while  keeping  half  the 
crew  always  on  deck.  Be  sure  and  light  the  cabin 
as  usual.  They  would  suspect  that  I  was  away  if  they 
did  not  see  the  saloon  skylights  lit  up.  There  is  no 
saying  when  I  may  be  back.  It  may  be  three  nights, 
it  may  be  six,  or,  for  all  that  I  know,  it  may  be  longer 
than  that.  You  may  be  sure  that  if  I  get  a  clue  I  shall 
follow  it  up  wherever  it  leads  me." 

The  strictest  silence  was  maintained  among  the 
men.  The  two  men  at  the  oars  were  told  to  row  very 
slowly,  and  above  all  things  to  avoid  splashing.  The 
boat  was  exceedingly  low  in  the  water,  much  too  low 
for  safety,  except  in  perfectly  calm  water,  as,  including 
the  two  men  at  the  oars,  there  were  thirteen  on  board. 

Frank  had  thought  it,  however,  inadvisable  to  take 
the  dingey  also,  for  this  was  lying  behind  the  stern, 
and  it  might  have  been  noticed  had  they  pulled  her  up 
to  the  gangway.  The  gig  had  been  purposely  left  on 
the  side  hidden  from  the  brigantine,  and  as  they  rowed 
away  pains  were  taken  to  keep  the  yacht  in  a  line  with 
her.  They  held  on  this  course,  indeed,  until  they  were 
eloae  in  to  the  shore,  and  then  kept  in  under  its  shelter 
until  the  curve  hid  them  altogether. 

"  Be  very  careful  as  you  row  back,  lads,  and  go 

265 


266  THE  QUEEN'S  CUPf 

very  slowly.  A  ripple  on  this  smooth  water  might  very 
well  be  noticed  by  them,  even  if  they  could  not  make 
out  a  boat." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,  we  will  be  careful." 

They  had  brought  a  lantern  with  them,  covered 
with  canvas,  except  for  a  few  inches  in  front. 

"  Me  take  him,  sar,  and  go  first,"  Dominique  said. 
"  Den  if  we  meet  anyone  you  all  stop  quiet,  and  me 
go  on  and  talk  with  them." 

Frank  followed  Dominique,  George  keeping  beside 
him  where  there  was  room  for  two  to  walk  abreast, 
at  other  times  falling  just  behind.  Then  came  the 
sailors,  and  the  four  black  boatmen  were  in  the  rear. 
They  had  been  told  that,  in  case  they  were  halted,  and 
heard  Dominique  in  conversation,  they  were  to  pass 
quietly  through  the  others,  and  be  ready  to  join  him 
and  help  him  if  necessary.  With  the  exception  of 
Dominique,  Frank  and  George  Lechmere,  all  carried 
muskets.  The  pilot  declined  to  take  one. 

"  Me  neber  fired  off  gun  in  my  life,  sar.  Me  more 
afraid  of  gun  than  of  dose  rascals.  Dominique  fight 
with  um  sword;  dat  plenty  good  for  him." 

The  path  mounted  the  hill  until  they  were,  as 
Frank  thought,  some  three  hundred  feet  above  the 
water.  Here  the  ground  was  cultivated,  and  after 
walking  for  ten  minutes  they  saw  two  or  three  lights 
in  front. 

"  You  stop  here,  sar,"  Dominique  said,  handing  the 
lantern  to  Frank.  "  Me  go  on  and  see  how  best  get 
round  de  village.  Must  not  be  seen  here.  If  native 
boat  come  in  at  night  suah  to  go  up  to  end  ob  water, 
and  land  at  village  dere." 

The  negro  soon  returned,  and  said  that  the  culti- 
vated land  extended  on  both  sides  of  the  village,  and 
there  was  no  difficulty  in  crossing  it. 

The  village  was  passed  quietly,  and  when  it  was 
once  well  behind  them  they  came  down  upon  the  path 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  267 

again,  which  was  much  larger  and  better  marked  than 
it  had  been  before.  After  following  it  for  half  a  mile, 
they  came  upon  a  road,  which  led  obliquely  up  from 
the  water,  and  ran  somewhat  inland. 

"  This  is  no  doubt  the  road  from  the  village  at  the 
head  of  the  arm  of  the  bay.  They  have  probably  come 
along  here,  though  they  may  have  turned  more  di- 
rectly into  the  hills.  That  is  the  first  point  to  find  out, 
Dominique." 

"  Yes,  sar,  next  village  we  see  me  go  in  wid  two 
ob  de  boatmen  and  ask  a  few  questions." 

Following  the  path  along  for  another  few  hundred 
yards,  they  saw  a  road  ahead  of  them.  Here  they 
halted,  and  two  of  the  blacks  handed  over  their  muskets 
and  cutlasses  to  the  care  of  the  sailors.  Dominique 
also  left  his  cutlass  behind  him,  and  as  he  went  on  gave 
instructions  to  his  two  companions. 

"  Now  look  here,"  he  said  in  negro  French,  "  don't 
you  say  much.  I  will  do  the  talking,  but  just  say 
a  word  or  two  if  they  ask  questions.  Mind  we  three 
belong  to  the  brigantine.  I  am  the  pilot.  The  cap- 
tain has  given  me  a  message  to  send  to  his  friends 
who  have  gone  up  into  the  hills.  He  asked  me  to  take 
it,  but  I  am  not  sure  about  the  way.  I  am  ready  to 
pay  well  for  a  guide.  I  expect  that  they  will  say  that 
the  ladies  came  along,  but  that  they  do  not  know  how 
they  went  afterwards.  Then  we  ask  him  to  come  as 
guide,  and  promise  to  pay  him  very  well." 

By  this  time  they  were  close  to  the  hut,  which,  as 
Dominique  assured  himself  before  knocking  at  the 
door,  stood  alone.  There  was  an  old  man  and  woman 
inside,  and  a  boy  of  about  seventeen.  Dominique  took 
off  his  hat  as  he  entered,  and  said  in  French: 

"  Excuse  me  for  disturbing  you  so  late ;  I  am  the 
pilot  of  a  vessel  now  in  the  bay,  and  have  been  sent 
by  the  captain  to  carry  an  important  message  to  a 
gentleman  who  landed  with  another  and  two  ladies  and 


268  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

some  armed  men.  He  did  not  give  me  sufficient  di- 
rections to  find  him,  and  I  thought  that  if  they  passed 
along  here  you  might  be  able  to  put  me  in  the  way." 

"  They  came  along  here  between  eleven  and  twelve, 
I  think.  We  saw  them,"  the  old  man  said,  "  and  we 
heard  afterwards  that  the  ladies  were  being  taken  away 
because  the  ship  was,  they  thought,  going  to  be  at- 
tacked by  a  pirate  that  had  followed  them.  The  people 
from  the  villages  went  to  help  fight,  for  the  gentleman 
had  bought  many  things  and  had  paid  well  for  them, 
and  each  man  was  promised  a  dollar  if  there  was  no 
fighting,  and  four  dollars  if  they  helped  beat  off  the 
pirate." 

"  Yes,  that  was  so,"  Dominique  said,  "  but  it  seems 
that  it  was  a  mistake;  still  we  had  cause  for  alarm, 
for  the  other  vessel  followed  us  strangely.  However, 
it  is  all  explained  now,  and  I  have  been  sent  with  this 
message,  because  the  captain  thought  that  if  he  sent  a 
white  sailor  they  would  not  give  him  the  information." 

"  Do  you  know,  Sebastian  ?  "  the  old  man  asked 
his  son. 

"  Yes,  they  turned  off  to  the  right  two  miles  fur- 
ther on." 

"  Look  here,  boy,"  Dominique  said,  "  we  were  prom- 
ised twenty  dollars  if  we  took  the  message  straight. 
Now  if  you  will  go  with  us  and  find  out  we  will  give 
you  five  of  them.  As  we  are  strangers  to  the  people 
here,  they  might  not  answer  our  questions;  but  if  you 
go  and  say  that  you  have  to  carry  the  message  no  doubt 
they  will  tell  you  which  way  they  have  gone." 

The  lad  jumped  up.  "  I  will  go  with  you,''  he 
said ;  "  but  perhaps  when  we  get  there  you  will  not 
give  me  the  money." 

"  Look  here,"  Dominique  said,  taking  three  dollars 
from  his  pocket,  "  I  will  leave  these  with  your  father, 
and  will  hand  you  the  other  two  as  soon  as  we  get 
within  sight  of  the  place  where  they  are." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  269 

The  lad  was  quite  satisfied.  Five  dollars  was  more 
than  he  could  earn  by  two  months'  work.  As  soon  as 
they  went  out  Dominique  whispered  to  one  of  the 
boatmen  to  go  back  and  tell  Frank  what  had  taken 
place,  and  to  beg  him  to  follow  at  some  distance  be- 
hind. Whenever  they  took  a  fresh  turning,  one  of 
the  boatmen  would  always  be  left  until  he  came  up. 
Frank  had  some  difficulty  in  understanding  the  boat- 
man's French,  and  it  was  rather  by  his  gestures  than 
his  words  that  he  gathered  his  meaning.  As  soon  as 
the  message  was  given  the  negro  hurried  on  until  he 
overtook  Dominique. 

"I  am  sorry  now  that  we  did  not  bring  Pedro," 
Frank  said.  "  However,  I  think  we  made  out  what 
he  had  to  say.  Dominique  has  got  someone  to  go  with 
him  to  do  the  questioning,  as  he  arranged  with  me; 
and  he  will  leave  one  or  other  of  the  men  every  time 
he  turns  off  from  the  road  he  is  following.  That  will 
be  a  very  good  arrangement.  So  far  we  have  been 
most  fortunate.  We  know  now  that  we  are  following 
them,  and  it  will  be  hard  if  we  don't  manage  to  keep 
the  clue  now  that  we  have  once  got  hold  of  it." 

When  they  came  to  the  road  that  branched  off  to 
the  right,  the  other  boatman  was  waiting.  He  pointed 
up  the  road  and  then  ran  on  silently  ahead.  No  fresh 
turn  was  made  for  a  long  distance;  twice  they  were 
stopped  by  one  of  the  blacks,  who  managed  to  inform 
them  that  Dominique  and  the  guide  were  making  in- 
quiries at  a  hut  ahead.  The  road  had  now  become  a 
mere  track,  and  was  continually  mounting.  Other 
tracks  had  branched  off,  leading,  Frank  supposed,  to 
small  hill  villages.  After  going  some  ten  miles,  the 
lad  told  Dominique  that  it  was  useless  for  him  to  go 
further,  for  that  there  were  no  more  huts  near  the 
track.  Beyond  the  fact  that  the  two  women  were  on 
horseback  when  they  passed  the  last  hut,  nothing  was 
learned  there. 
18 


270  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  It  is  of  no  use  to  go  further,"  the  guide  said ; 
"  there  are  no  houses  near  here  to  inquire  at,  and  there 
are  three  or  four  more  paths  that  turn  off  from  here. 
We  must  stop  until  morning,  and  then  I  will  go  on 
alone  and  make  inquiries  of  shepherds  and  cottagers; 
but,  you  see,  I  thought  that  we  should  find  them  to- 
night. If  I  work  all  day  to-morrow,  I  shall  expect 
three  more  dollars." 

"You  shall  have  them,"  Dominique  said.  "Here 
is  my  blanket;  I  will  share  one  with  one  of  my  boat- 
men." 

The  lad  at  once  lay  down  and  pulled  the  blanket 
over  his  head.  As  soon  as  he  did  so,  Dominique  mo- 
tioned to  the  two  boatmen  to  do  the  same,  and  then 
went  back  along  the  track  until  he  met  Frank's  party. 
As  the  hills  were  for  the  most  part  covered  with  trees 
almost  up  to  their  summits,  Frank  and  his  party 
had  only  to  turn  a  short  distance  off  from  the  path, 
on  receiving  Dominique's  news  that  the  guide  had 
stopped. 

"  It  is  half -past  one,"  Frank  said,  holding  the  lan- 
tern which  the  pilot  had  left  with  them,  to  his  watch. 
"  We  shall  get  four  hours'  sleep.  You  had  better  serve 
a  tot  of  grog  all  round,  George;  it  will  keep  out  the 
damp  night  air." 

One  of  the  blacks  was  carrying  a  basket,  and  each 
of  the  men  had  brought  a  water  bottle  and  pannikin. 

"  Put  some  water  in  it,  lads,"  Frank  said,  "  and 
it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  eat  a  bit  of  biscuit  with  it." 

Dominique  had  told  Frank  that  the  guide  had  made 
some  remark  about  the  two  blacks  dropping  behind 
so  often,  and  the  latter  took  out  his  handkerchief,  tore 
it  into  eight  pieces,  and  gave  it  to  him. 

"  Wherever  you  turn  off,  Dominique,  drop  one  of 
these  pieces  on  the  path;  that  will  be  quite  sufficient." 

"  Yes,  sar ;  but  you  see  we  don't  know  when  we 
start  up  path  whether  it  be  right  path  or  no.  We  go 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  271 

up  one,  if  find  dat  hit  not  de  one  dey  go,  den  come 
back  again  and  try  anoder ;  what  we  to  do  ? " 

After  thinking  for  some  little  time,  Frank  sug- 
gested that  Dominique's  best  way  would  be  to  tell  the 
guide  that  he  was  footsore,  and  that  as  several  paths 
would  have  to  be  searched,  he  and  one  of  the  men  would 
sit  down  there.  The  other  would  accompany  the  boy 
and  bring  down  word  when  the  right  path  had  been 
discovered.  As  soon  as  it  became  light,  Frank,  with- 
out rousing  the  men,  went  out  into  the  path  and  moved 
cautiously  up  it.  He  had  but  just  started  when  he 
saw  Dominique  coming  towards  him. 

"  All  right,  sar.  Boy  gone  on ;  he  hunt  about. 
When  he  find  he  send  Sam  back  to  fetch  me.  De  oder 
stay  with  him." 

"  Oh,  you  have  sent  both  with  him." 

"Yes,  sar,  me  thought  it  better;  if  only  one  man 
go,  when  he  come  back,  boy  could  talk  to  people;  per- 
haps talk  too  much,  so  sent  both  men." 

"  That  was  the  best  plan,  no  doubt,"  Frank  agreed. 
"  I  will  join  the  men  and  remain  there  until  you  come 
for  me." 

"  Dat  best  thing,  sar ;  people  might  come  along, 
better  dey  not  see  you." 

It  was  twelve  o'clock  before  Dominique  joined  the 
waiting  group  in  the  wood. 

"  They  have  been  a  long  time  finding  the  track, 
Dominique." 

"  Yes,  sar,  bery  long  time.  Dey  try  four  tracks, 
all  wrong;  den  dey  try  'nother.  Sam  say  boy  tell  him 
try  that  last,  because  bad  track;  lead  ober  hills,  to 
place  where  Obi  man  live.  Black  fellow  no  like  to  go 
there.  Bad  men  there;  steal  children  away,  make 
sacrifice  to  fetish.  All  people  here  believe  that  Obi 
man  bery  strong.  Dey  send  presents  to  him  to  make 
rain  or  to  kill  enemy,  but  dey  no  like  go  near  him  dem- 
eelves.  Dere  was  a  hut  a  little  up  dat  road.  Party 


272  THE   QUEEN'S  CUP. 

went  by  dere  yesterday.  No  more  houses  on  road.  Sam 
say  boy  wait  dere  till  he  bring  me  back  to  him;  den 
go  home.  Not  like  to  go  further;  say  can't  miss  way 
dat  path.  Leads  straight  to  Obi  man's  place.  Fetish 
on  road  strike  people  dead  dat  go  dar  without  leab  ob 
Obi  man." 

"  That  will  suit  us  well  altogether,"  Frank  said. 
"  How  far  is  it  to  where  the  guide  is  ?  " 

"  One  and  a  half  hours'  walk." 

"  Then  we  will  be  off  at  once." 

All  were  glad  to  be  on  the  move  again,  and  in  spite 
of  the  heat  they  proceeded  at  a  rapid  pace,  until  the 
boatman  Sam  said  that  they  were  close  to  the  spot 
where  he  had  left  his  companions  with  the  guide.  The 
rest  then  entered  the  wood,  and  Dominique  went  on 
with  the  boatman.  Ten  minutes  later  a  young  negro 
came  down  the  path.  They  had  no  doubt  that  it  was 
the  guide.  Dominique  arrived  two  or  three  minutes 
later. 

"  I  suppose  that  was  the  guide  that  went  down," 
Frank  said,  as  he  stepped  out. 

"  Dat  him,  sar,"  he  said.  "  Quite  sure  path  go  to 
Obi  man's  place.  It  was  miles  away  in  centre  of  hills. 
I  pretend  want  him  to  go  on.  He  said  no  go  for  thou- 
sand dollars.  So  me  pay  him  his  money,  and  he  go 
back.  He  tell  me  no  use  hunt  for  friends  if  Obi  man 
hab  not  giben  dem  leab  to  go  and  see  him.  Den  the 
fetish  change  dem  all  into  snakes.  If  he  gib  leab  and 
not  know  dat  me  and  oder  two  men  were  friends,  den 
de  fetish  change  us  into  snakes." 

"  Well,  there  is  one  comfort,  Dominique,  we  shall 
be  able  to  march  boldly  along  without  being  afraid  of 
meeting  anyone." 

"  Yes,  sar ;  Sam  be  a  little  frightened,  but  not 
much.  Not  believe  much  in  San  Domingo  about  fetish. 
Dey  better  dan  dese  Hayti  people.  Still  Sam  not 
like  it." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  273 

"  I  suppose  you  told  him  that  he  was  a  fool,  Domi- 
nique ? " 

"  Yes,  sar,  me  tell  him,  too,  dat  white  man  tink 
nothing  ob  Obi  man.  Hang  him  by  neck  if  he  tries 
fetish  against  dem." 

Having  picked  up  Sam,  they  proceeded  at  a  brisk 
pace  along  the  path,  Frank  leading  the  way  with 
George  Lechmere. 

"  You  see,"  he  said,  "  Carthew  must  have  been  un- 
easy in  his  mind  all  along.  I  have  110  doubt  that  di- 
rectly he  put  into  the  bay  and  decided  to  make  this  his 
headquarters,  he  set  about  preparing  some  place  where 
he  could  carry  them  off  to,  and  where  there  would  be 
very  little  chance  of  their  being  traced.  Down  at  the 
village  by  the  water  he  heard  of  this  Obi  man.  He 
has  evidently  great  power  in  this  part  of  the  island. 
These  fellows  are  all  great  rascals,  and  Carthew  may 
have  either  gone  or  ^cnt  to  him  and  made  arrangements 
that  he  and  a  party  should  if  necessary  be  allowed  to 
establish  a  camp  in  the  valley  where  this  fellow  lives; 
of  course,  promising  him  a  handsome  present.  He 
could  have  chosen  no  safer  place.  Following  hard  as 
we  have  done  on  his  track,  we  have  obtained  a  clue; 
but  it  is  not  probable  that  any  of  the  natives  whom 
Dominique  has  questioned  has  the  smallest  idea  that 
the  party  were  going  towards  this  fetish  man's  place. 
In  fact,  the  only  man  that  could  know  it  was  the  negro 
at  that  last  hut,  and  you  may  be  sure  that  were  he 
questioned  by  any  searching  party  he  would  not  dare 
to  give  any  information  that  might  excite  the  anger 
of  this  man. 

"  It  is  likely  enough  that  this  fellow  has  a  gang  of 
men  with  him,  bound  to  him  partly  by  interest  and 
partly  by  superstitious  fears.  We  shall  probably  have 
to  reckon  with  these  fellows  in  addition  to  Carthew's 
own  force.  He  seems  to  have  taken  ten  or  twelve  of 
the  blacks  from  the  village  with  him.  They  would 


274:  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

have  no  fear  of  going  when  he  told  them  that  he  was 
under  the  special  protection  of  the  fetish  man.  Then, 
you  see,  he  has  four  of  his  own  sailors,  his  friend  and 
himself;  so  that  \ve  have  an  equal  number  of  white 
men  and  five  negroes  against  his  ten  or  twelve  and 
the  fetishman's  gang. 

"  However,  I  hope  that  we  shall  have  the  advan- 
tage of  a  surprise.  If  so,  I  think  that  we  may  feel 
pretty  confident  that  we  shall  at  any  rate,  in  the  first 
place,  carry  off  Miss  Greendale  and  her  maid.  The 
danger  won't  be  in  the  attack,  but  in  the  retreat.  That 
Obi  fellow  may  raise  the  whole  country  against  us. 
There  is  one  thing — the  population  is  scanty  up  here, 
and  it  won't  be  until  we  get  down  towards  the  lower 
ground  that  they  will  be  able  to  muster  strongly  enough 
to  be  really  formidable;  but  we  may  have  to  fight  hard 
to  get  down  to  the  boats.  You  see,  it  is  a  twenty  miles' 
march.  We  shan't  be  able  to  go  very  fast,  for,  al- 
though Miss  Greendale  and  her  maid  might  keep  up 
well  for  some  distance,  they  would  be  worn  out  long 
before  we  got  to  the  shore,  while  the  black  fellows 
would  be  able  to  travel  by  other  paths  and  to  arouse 
the  villagers  as  they  went  and  make  it  very,  hot  in- 
deed for  us." 

"  There  is  one  thing — we  shall  have  the  advantage 
of  darkness.  Major,  and  in  the  woods  it  would  be 
difficult  for  them  to  know  how  fast  we  were  going. 
We  might  strike  off  into  other  paths,  and,  if  necessary, 
carry  Miss  Greendale  and  her  maid;  we  could  make 
a  couple  of  litters  for  them,  and,  with  four  to  a  litter, 
could  travel  along  at  a  good  rate  of  speed." 

In  another  three  hours  they  found  that  the  path 
was  descending  into  a  deep  and  narrow  valley.  On 
the  way  they  passed  many  of  the  fetish  signs,  so  ter- 
rible to  the  negro's  imagination.  Pieces  of  blue  string, 
with  feathers  and  rags  attached  to  them,  were  stretched 
across  the  path;  clumps  of  feathers  hung  suspended 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  275 

from  the  trees;  flat  stones,  with  berries,  shells,  and 
crooked  pieces  of  wood,  were  nailed  against  the  trunks 
of  the  trees.  At  first  the  four  negro  boatmen  showed 
signs  of  terror  on  approaching  these  mysterious  sym- 
bols, and  grew  pale  with  fright  when  Frank  broke 
the  strings  that  barred  the  path;  but  when  they  saw 
that  no  evil  resulted  from  the  audacious  act,  and  that 
no  avenging  bolt  fell  upon  his  head,  they  mustered 
up  courage,  and  in  time  even  grinned  as  the  sailors 
made  jeering  remarks  at  the  mysterious  emblems.  As 
soon  as  they  began  to  descend  into  the  valley,  and  it 
was  evident  that  they  were  nearing  their  destination, 
Frank  halted. 

"  Xow,  Dominique,  do  you  object  to  go  down  and 
find  out  all  about  it?  I  am  quite  ready  to  go,  but  you 
are  less  likely  to  be  noticed  than  I  am.  There  is  no 
hurry,  for  we  don't  wish  to  move  until  within  an  hour 
of  sunset,  or  perhaps  two  hours.  There  is  no  fear  of 
our  meeting  with  any  interruption  until  we  get  back 
to  the  point  where  we  started  this  morning,  and  it 
would  be  as  well,  therefore,  to  be  back  there  just  before 
dark." 

"  Me  go,  sar.  Me  strip ;  dat  best ;  not  seen  so  easy 
among  de  trees." 

"  Quite  right,  Dominique.  What  we  want  to  find 
out  is  the  exact  position  of  the  camp  and  the  hut,  for 
no  doubt  they  built  a  hut  of  some  sort,  where  Miss 
Greendale  is,  and  see  how  we  can  best  get  as  close  to 
it  as  possible.  Then  it  would  be  as  well  to  find  out 
what  sort  of  village  this  Obi  man  has  got,  and  how 
many  men  it  probably  contains.  But  don't  risk  any- 
thing to  do  this.  Our  object  is  to  surprise  Carthew's 
camp,  and  we  must  take  our  chance  as  to  the  blacks. 
If  you  were  seen,  and  an  alarm  given,  Carthew  might 
carry  Miss  Greendale  off  again.  So  don't  mind  about 
the  Obi  village  unless  you  are  sure  that  you  can  obtain 
a  view  of  it  without  risk  of  being  seen." 


276  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"Me  manage  dat,  sar,"  the  negro  said,  confidently. 
"  Dey  not  on  de  look-out ;  me  crawl  up  among  de  trees 
and  see  eberyting;  no  fear  whatsomeber." 

Dominique  stripped  and  started  down  the  path, 
while  the  rest  retired  into  the  shelter  of  the  trees.  An 
anxious  two  hours  passed,  the  party  listening  intently 
for  any  sound  that  might  tell  of  Dominique's  being 
discovered.  All,  however,  remained  quiet,  except  that 
they  were  once  or  twice  startled  by  the  loud  beating 
of  a  drum  and  the  deep  blasts  from  the  fetish  horn. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  there  was  a  general  exclama- 
tion of  relief  as  Dominique  stepped  in  from  among  the 
trees. 

"  Well,  Dominique,  what  have  you  found  ? "  Frank 
exclaimed  as  he  started  to  his  feet. 

"Me  found  eberyting,  sar.  ^ First  come  to  village; 
not  bery  big,  twenty  or  thirty  men  dere.  Den  a  hun- 
dred yards  furder  tree  huts  stand;  dey  new  huts,  but 
not  built  last  night,  leaves  all  dead,  built  eight  or  ten 
days  ago.  Me  crawl  on  tomack  among  de  trees  and 
lay  and  watch.  In  de  furder  hut  two  white  lady.  Dey 
come  in  and  out,  dey  talk  togeder,  de  oders  not  go 
near  them.  Next  hut  to  them,  twenty,  thirty  yards 
away,  two  white  men.  Dey  sit  on  log  and  smoke  cigar. 
In  de  next  hut  four  white  sailor.  Den  a  little  distance 
away  twelve  black  fellows  sit  round  fire  and  cook  food. 
Plenty  of  goats  down  in  valley,  good  gardens  and  lots 
of  bananas." 

"  How  did  the  white  ladies  seem  ?  " 

"Not  seen  anyting  particular,  sar;  dey  neber  look 
in  de  direction  ob  oders.  Just  talk  togeder  bery  quiet. 
Me  see  dere  lips  move  but  hear  no  voice.  Hear  de 
voice  of  men  quite  plain." 

"  How  close  can  we  get  without  being  seen  ?  " 

"About  fifty  yards,  sar.  Huts  put  near  stream 
under  big  trees.  Trees  not  tick  just  dar;  little  way 
lower  down  banana  trees  run  down  to  edge  ob  stream. 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  277 

If  can  get  round  de  village  on  dat  side  widout  being 
seen,  can  go  trough  bananas,  den  dash  across  de 
stream  and  run  for  de  ladies.  Can  get  dere  before 
de  oders.  Besides,  if  dey  run  dat  way  we  shoot  dem 
down." 

"  Thank  God,  that  is  all  satisfactory,"  Frank  said, 
"  but  it  is  hard  having  to  wait  here  another  five  hours 
before  doing  anything." 

"  We  are  ready  to  go  and  pitch  into  them  at  once, 
sir,"  one  of  the  sailors  said.  "  You  have  only  to  say 
the  word." 

"  Thank  you,  lads,  but  we  must  wait  till  within 
an  hour  or  two  of  sunset.  I  expect  that  we  shall  have 
to  fight  our  way  back,  and  we  shall  Vv-ant  darkness  to 
help  us.  It  would  be  folly  to  risk  anything  just  as 
success  seems  certain  after  these  months  of  searching. 
Still,  it  is  hard  to  have  to  wait.  It  is  getting  on  to 
twelve  o'clock.  You  had  better  get  that  basket  out 
and  have  your  dinners." 

The  next  four  hours  seemed  to  him  interminable. 
The  sailors  and  negroes  had  gone  to  sleep  as  soon  as 
they  had  finished  their  meal  and  smoked  a  pipe.  Frank 
moved  about  restlessly,  sometimes  smoking  in  short, 
sharp  puffe,  sometimes  letting  his  pipe  go  out  every 
minute  and  relighting  it  mechanically,  and  constantly 
consulting  his  watch.  At  last  he  sat  down  on  a  fallen 
tree,  and  remained  there  without  making  the  slightest 
motion,  until  George  Lechmere  said : 

"  I  think  it  is  time  now,  Major." 

"  Thank  goodness  for  that,  George.  I  made  up  my 
mind  that  I  would  not  look  at  my  watch  again  until 
it  was  time.  Now,  lads,  before  we  start  listen  to  my 
final  orders.  If  we  are  discovered  as  we  go  past  the 
village  we  shall  turn  off  at  once  and  make  straight  for 
the  camp.  Don't  waste  a  shot  on  the  blacks.  They  are 
not  likely  to  have  time  to  gather  to  oppose  us,  but  cut 
down  anyone  that  gets  in  your  way.  When  we  are 


$78  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

through  the  village  make  straight  to  the  farthest  hut; 
don't  fire  a  shot  till  we  have  got  between  that  and  the 
next,  and  then  go  straight  at  Carthew  and  his  gang. 
If  I  should  fall,  Lechmere  will  take  the  command.  If 
he,  too,  should  fall,  you  are  to  gather  round  the  ladies 
and  fight  your  way  down  to  the  landing-place.  Take 
Dominique's  advice  as  to  paths  and  so  on,  he  and  his 
men  know  a  good  deal  better  than  you  do — but  re- 
member, the  great  duty  is  to  take  the  ladies  on  board 
safe.  The  moment  you  get  them  there  tell  the  cap- 
tain my  orders  are  that  you  are  to  man  the  two  boats, 
row  straight  at  the  brigantine,  drive  the  crew  over- 
board and  sink  her.  Then  you  are  to  sail  for  Eng- 
land with  Miss  Greendale.  The  brigantine  must  be 
sunk,  for  if  Carthew  gets  down  there  he  will  fill  her 
with  blacks  and  sail  in  pursuit;  and  as  there  is  not 
much  difference  in  speed  between  the  two  boats,  she 
might  overtake  you  if  you  carried  away  anything.  You 
must  get  rid  of  her  before  you  sail.  What  have  you 
got  there,  George  ?  " 

"  Two  stretchers,  Major.  Dominique  and  I  have 
been  making  them  for  the  last  two  hours.  We  can 
leave  them  here,  sir,  by  the  side  of  the  path,  and  pick 
them  up  as  we  come  along  back." 

A  couple  of  minutes  later  the  party  started.  They 
followed  the  path  down  until  nearly  at  the  bottom 
of  the  hill ;  here  the  trees  grew  thinner,  and  Dominique, 
who  was  leading,  turned  to  the  right.  They  made 
their  way  noiselessly  through  the  wood,  Dominique 
taking  them  a  much  wider  circuit  round  the  village 
than  he  himself  had  made,  and  bringing  them  out 
from  the  trees  at  the  lower  end  of  the  plantation  of 
bananas.  Hitherto  they  had  been  walking  in  single 
file,  but  Frank  now  passed  along  the  order  for  them 
to  close  up. 

"  Keep  together  as  well  as  you  can,"  he  said,  when 
they  were  assembled;  "and  mind  how  you  pa^s  be- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  279 

tween  the  trees.  If  you  set  these  big  trees  waving 
it  might  be  noticed  at  once." 

Very  cautiously  they  stole  forward  until  they 
reached  the  edge  by  the  stream.  Frank  looked  through 
the  trees.  Four  white  sailors  were  lying  on  the  ground 
smoking  in  front  of  their  hut.  Carthew  and  his  com- 
panion were  stretched  in  two  hammocks  hung  from 
the  tree  under  which  their  hut  stood.  Bertha  and  her 
maid  had  retired  into  their  bower. 

"  Now,  lads,"  he  said,  as  with  his  revolver  in  his 
right  hand  he  prepared  for  the  rush.  "Don't  cheer, 
but  run  silently  forward.  The  moment  they  catch  sight 
of  us  you  can  give  a  cheer.  Now !  "  and  he  sprang  for- 
ward into  the  stream,  which  was  but  ankle  deep.  The 
splash  as  the  whole  party  followed  him  at  once  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  sailors,  who  leaped  to  their 
feet  with  a  shout,  and  ran  into  their  hut,  while  at  the 
same  moment  Carthew  and  his  companion  sprang  from 
their  hammocks,  paused  for  a  moment  in  surprise  at 
the  men  rushing  towards  them,  and  then  also  ran  into 
their  hut,  Carthew  shouting  to  the  blacks  to  take  to 
their  arms. 

"Go  straight  at  them,  George,"  Frank  shouted, 
running  himself  directly  towards  the  nearest  hut,  just 
as  Bertha,  startled  at  the  noise,  came  to  its  entrance. 
She  stood  for  an  instant  in  astonishment,  then  with 
a  scream  of  joy  ran  a  step  or  two  and  fell  forward  into 
hio  arms. 

"Thank  God,  I  have  found  you  at  last,"  he  said. 
"Wait  here  a  moment,  darling.  I  will  be  back  di- 
rectly. Go  into  the  hut  until  I  come." 

But  Bertha  was  too  overpowered  with  surprise  and 
flight  to  heed  his  words,  and  Frank  handed  her  to 
her  maid,  who  had  run  out  behind  her. 

"  Take  her  in,"  he  said,  as  he  carried  her  to  the 
entrance  of  the  hut,  "  and  stay  there  until  I  come 
again." 


280  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

Then  he  ran  after  his  party.  A  wild  hubbub  had 
burst  forth;  muskets  and  pistols  were  cracking.  Car- 
thew,  as  he  ran  out  of  the  hut,  discharged  his  pistol 
at  the  sailors,  but  in  his  surprise  and  excitement  missed 
them,  and  before  he  had  time  to  level  another,  George 
Lechmere  bounded  upon  him,  and  with  a  shout  of 
"  This  is  for  Martha  Bennett,"  brought  his  cutlass 
down  upon  his  head.  He  fell  like  a  log,  and  at  the 
same  moment  one  of  the  sailors  shot  his  companion. 
Then  they  dashed  against  the  Belgian  sailors,  who  had 
been  joined  by  the  blacks. 

"  Give  them  a  volley,  lads ! "  George  shouted. 

The  four  sailors  fired,  as  a  moment  later  did  the 
boatmen,  and  then  cutlass  in  hand  rushed  upon  them. 
Just  as  they  reached  them  Frank  arrived.  There  was 
but  a  moment's  resistance.  Two  of  the  sailors  had 
fallen  under  the  volley,  a  third  was  cut  down,  and  the 
fourth,  as  well  as  the  blacks,  fled  towards  the  village. 
Here  the  Obi  drum  was  beating  fiercely. 

"  Load  again,  lads,"  Frank  shouted.  "  Two  of  you 
come  back  with  me."  He  ran  with  them  back  to  the 
end  hut,  but  Bertha  had  now  recovered  from  her  first 
shock. 

"  Come,  darling,"  he  said,  "  there  is  not  a  moment 
to  lose.  We  must  get  out  of  this  as  soon  as  we  can. 
Come  along,  Anna.  Thompson,  do  you  look  after  her; 
I  will  see  to  Miss  Greendale." 

Just  as  they  reached  the  others  a  volley  was  firei 
from  the  village  by  the  blacks  of  Carthew's  party,  who 
were  armed  with  muskets.  Then  they,  with  thirty 
other  negroes,  rushed  out  with  loud  shouts. 

"  Don't  fire  until  they  are  close,"  Frank  shouted. 
"  Now  let  them  have  it." 

The  volley  poured  into  them  at  but  ten  paces  dis- 
tance had  a  deadly  effect.  The  blacks  paused  for  a 
moment,  and  the  rescuing  party,  led  by  George  Lech- 
mere  and  Dominique,  rushed  at  them.  The  sailors' 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  281 

pistols  cracked  out,  and  then  they  charged,  cutlass  in 
hand.  For  a  moment  the  blacks  stood,  but  the  fierce 
attack  was  too  much  for  them,  and  they  again  fled  to 
the  village. 

"  Stop,  Dominique ! "  Frank  shouted,  for  the  big 
pilot,  who  had  already  cut  down  three  of  his  oppo- 
ments,  was  hotly  pursuing  them.  "  We  must  make  for 
tke  path  at  once." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

IN  a  couple  of  minutes  they  had  gained  it. 

"  Anyone  hurt  ?  "  Frank  asked. 

One  of  the  boatmen  had  an  arm  broken  by  a  bullet, 
and  two  of  the  sailors  had  received  spear  wounds  at 
the  hands  of  the  villagers;  they  were  not  serious,  how- 
ever, and  leaving  George  Lechmere  to  cover  the  rear, 
they  started  up  the  path,  Dominique,  as  usual,  leading 
the  way,  Frank  following  behind  him  with  Bertha,  who 
had  hitherto  not  spoken  a  word. 

"  Am  I  dreaming  ? "  she  asked  now,  in  a  tone  of 
bewilderment.  "  Is  it  really  you,  Frank  ?  " 

"  You  are  not  dreaming,  dear,  and  it  is  certainly 
I — Frank  Mallett.  Now  tell  me  how  you  got  on." 

"  As  well  as  might  be,  Frank,  but  it  was  a  terrible 
time;  please  do  not  talk  about  it  yet.  But  how  is  it 
that  you  are  here?  It  seems  a  miracle.  Oh,  how  ill 
you  are  looking!  And  your  arm  is  in  a  sling,  too." 

"  That  is  nothing,"  he  said ;  "  merely  a  broken  col- 
lar bone.  As  to  my  looking  ill,  you  must  remember,  I 
have  had  almost  as  anxious  a  time  as  you." 

"  Then  it  was  the  Osprey,  after  all,"  she  exclaimed, 
suddenly,  "  that  we  saw  the  last  day  that  we  were  out 
sailing.  We  were  on  deck,  and  I  was  not  noticing — 
I  did  not  notice  much  then — when  Anna  said  to  me, 
'  That  looks  like  an  English  yacht,  miss.  I  am  sure 
Mr.  Carthew  thinks  she  is  chasing  us.'  Then  I  got  up 
and  looked  round.  I  could  not  see  for  certain,  but  it 
did  look  like  a  yacht,  and  I  thought  that  it  was  about 
the  size  of  the  Osprey.  Those  two  men  were  standing 
282 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  283 

with  their  backs  to  us  looking  at  it  through  their 
glasses,  and  Carthew  happened  to  turn  round  and  saw 
me  standing  up,  and  at  once  said :  '  You  must  go  below. 
I  believe  that  is  a  pirate  chasing  us.'  I  said  that  it 
was  nothing  to  me  if  it  was.  One  pirate  was  just  as 
good  as  another.  Then  he  said  that  if  I  would  not  go 
down  he  should  be  obliged  to  use  force,  and  called  four 
men  aft.  So  as  it  was  of  no  use  resisting,  we  went 
down.  Presently  we  felt  that  the  course  had  been 
changed.  Late  in  the  evening  we  heard  them  fire  the 
two  guns,  and  then  some  musket  shots.  Later  on  the 
man  came  down  and  told  us  that  the  pirates  had  tried 
to  attack  us  in  their  boats,  and  that  they  had  beaten 
them  off,  and  that  there  was  no  further  danger.  But 
for  all  that  I  could  see  that  he  was  troubled." 

"  That  was  when  I  was  hit,  dear.  We  had  not 
reckoned  on  the  two  guns,  and  with  only  the  gig  and 
dingey,  with  one  man  killed  and  five  of  us  wounded, 
it  was  too  stiff  a  business,  though  we  should  have  per- 
severed, but  that  squall  came  down  on  us  from  the 
hills,  and  the  Phantom,  moreover,  left  us  standing 
still;  we  believed  that  we  should  come  up  with  the 
schooner  in  the  morning." 

"  But  how  did  you  come  here,  Frank  ?  How  did 
you  know  where  we  had  been  taken  ? " 

"It  is  a  long  story,  dear.  We  started  in  pursuit 
four  days  after  you  had  been  carried  off.  I  will  tell 
you  all  about  it  when  we  get  safe  again  on  board  the 
yacht.  I  am  afraid  we  shall  have  some  trouble  yet. 
Now  if  you  are  quite  recovered  from  your  surprise, 
do  you  feel  equal  to  hurrying  on?  Every  moment  is 
of  importance." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  she  said ;  "  he  will  be  after  us." 

"  He  won't,"  Frank  said ;  "  George  Lechmere  cut 
him  down;  whether  he  killed  him  or  not  I  cannot  say, 
but  I  don't  fancy  anyhow  that  he  will  be  able  to  take 
up  the  chase.  It  is  that  rascally  Obi  man  I  am  afraid 


284  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

of.  He  has  great  power  over  the  people,  and  may  raise 
the  whole  country  to  attack  us." 

"  I  am  ready  to  run  as  fast  as  you  like,  Frank." 

"  We  may  as  well  go  at  a  trot  for  a  bit."  Then 
raising  his  voice,  he  said :  "  We  will  go  at  double,  lads, 
now.  Put  your  arm  on  my  shoulder,  Bertha,  and  we 
can  fancy  that  we  are  going  to  valse." 

"  I  feel  so  happy  that  I  want  to  cry,  Frank,"  she 
said  as  they  started. 

"  Don't  do  that  until  you  get  on  board  the  Osprey." 

As  they  passed  the  spot  where  they  had  halted, 
George  Lechmere  told  two  of  the  blacks  to  pick  up  the 
stretchers  and  carry  them  along.  They  were  merely 
two  light  poles,  with  a  wattle  work  formed  of  giant 
creepers  worked  for  some  six  feet  in  length  between 
them. 

"  What  are  those  for  ?  "  Bertha  asked,  as  she  passed 
them. 

"  Those  are  to  carry  you  and  Anna  along  when 
you  get  exhausted.  It  is  twenty  miles  to  the  coast, 
you  know." 

"I  feel  as  if  I  could  walk  any  distance  to 'get  OH 
board  the  Osprey  again." 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that  you  have  the  spirit,  Bertha, 
but  I  question  whether  you  have  the  strength;  espe- 
cially after  being  over  three  months  without  any  exer- 
cise at  all.  I  felt  it  myself  yesterday,  although  we  did 
little  more  than  ten  miles." 

"  Oh,  but  then  you  have  been  wounded.  And  you 
do  look  so  ill,  Frank." 

"  I  dare  say  the  wound  had  a  little  to  do  with  it," 
he  said;  "but  of  course  the  climate  is  trying  too; 
though  it  is  cooler  up  on  the  hills  than  it  is  in  that 
bay." 

"Now,  Frank,  the  first  question  of  all  is — How  is 
my  mother?  What  did  she  do  when  I  was  missing? 
It  must  have  been  awful  for  her." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  285 

"Of  course,  it  was  a  terrible  anxiety,  Bertha,  but 
she  bore  it  better  than  would  be  expected,  especially 
as  she  had  not  been  well  before." 

"  It  troubled  me  more,  Frank,  than  even  my  own 
affaire.  As  soon  as  I  had  time  to  think  at  all  I  could 
not  imagine  what  she  would  do,  and  the  only  comfort 
was  that  she  had  you  to  look  after  her." 

"  No  doubt  it  was  a  comfort,  dear,  that  she  had 
someone  to  lean  upon  a  little.  Halt ! "  he  broke  off 
suddenly,  as  there  was  the  sound  of  a  stick  breaking 
among  the  trees  close  by.  "  Stand  to  your  arms,  men, 
and  gather  closely.  Bertha,  do  you  and  Anna  take 
your  place  in  the  centre,  and  please  lie  down." 

"  I  cannot  do  that,  Frank,"  she  said,  positively. 
"  Here  you  are  all  risking  your  lives  for  us,  and  now 
you  want  me  to  put  myself  quite  safe  while  you  are  all 
in  danger." 

"  I  want  to  be  able  to  fight,  Bertha,  free  of  anxiety, 
and  to  be  able  to  devote  my  whole  attention  to  the  work. 
This  I  can't  do  if  I  know  that  you  are  exposed  to 
bullets." 

"  Well,  I  can't  lie  down  anyhow,  Frank ;  but  Anna 
and  I  will  crouch  down  if  you  say  that  we  must  when 
they  begin  to  fire." 

They  were  silent  for  two  or  three  minutes,  and  no 
sounds  were  heard  in  the  wood. 

"  We  shall  be  attacked  sooner  or  later,"  Frank  said 
quietly  to  the  men.  "  We  will  take  to  the  trees  on  our 
right  if  we  are  attacked  from  the  left,  and  to  those  on 
the  left  if  they  come  at  us  from  the  right.  If  we  are 
attacked  on  both  sides  at  once,  take  to  the  right. 
George,  do  you  and  Harrison  and  Jones  get  behind 
treee,  next  to  the  path.  It  will  be  your  business  to  pre- 
vent anyone  from  passing  on  that  side.  I,  with  the 
other  two,  will  take  post  behind  trees  facing  the  other 
way.  The  four  boatmen  with  Dominique  will  shelter 
themselves  in  the  bushes  between  us,  with  Miss  Green- 
19 


286  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

dale  and  her  maid  in  the  middle.  They  will  be  the  re- 
serve, and  if  a  rush  is  made  from  either  side  they  will 
at  once  advance  and  beat  it  back.  You  understand, 
Dominique  ? " 

"  Me  understand,  sar.  If  those  fellows  come  we 
charge  at  them.  These  fellows  no  used  to  shoot,  sar.  Bet- 
ter give  muskets  to  others.  We  do  best  with  our  swords." 

"  That  is  the  best  plan.  You  take  one  of  the  mus- 
kets, George,  and  give  one  to  Harrison.  The  two  men 
on  my  side  had  better  have  the  others,  as  I  can't  use 
one.  You  understand,  lads.  These  will  be  spare  arms; 
keep  them  in  reserve  if  possible,  so  as  to  check  tke 
fellows  when  they  make  a  rush.  Now  do  you  all  un- 
derstand? You  explain  it  to  your  men,  Dominique. 
Now  we  will  go  on  again  and  at  the  double.  It  will 
be  as  much  as  those  fellows  can  do  to  keep  up  with 
us  in  this  thick  wood." 

Ten  minutes  passed.  Then  there  was  a  loud  shout 
and  the  blowing  of  a  deep  horn  on  their  left,  followed 
by  a  yell  from  the  wood  on  both  sides.  "  To  the  right," 
Frank  shouted,  and  the  party  ran  in  among  the  trees. 

"  Get  in  among  that  undergrowth  with  Anna,"  he 
said  to  Bertha.  "  Gather  there,  Dominique,  with  your 
men;  we  shall  want  you  directly.  They  are  sure  to 
make  a  rush  at  first.  Now,  lads,  one  of  you  take  that 
tree;  the  other  the  one  to  the  right,"  and  he  placed 
himself  behind  one  between  them;  on  glancing  round 
he  saw  that  George  had  already  posted  his  two  men, 
and  had  taken  up  his  station  between  them. 

"  All  hands  kneel  down,"  he  said.  "  These  bushes 
will  hide  us  from  their  sight.  If  we  stand  up  we  may 
be  hit  by  shots  from  behind." 

A  moment  later  there  was  a  general  discharge  of 
firearms  round  them,  and  then  some  forty  negroes 
rushed  at  them. 

"  On  your  feet  now,  men,"  Frank  shouted ;  "  take 
steady  aim  and  bring  down  a  man  with  each  shot." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  287 

A  cheer  broke  from  the  sailors.  Four  shots  were 
fired  from  Frank's  side,  and  five  from  George  Lech- 
mere's,  and  with  them  came  the  cracks  of  Frank's  re- 
volver, followed  almost  directly  afterwards  by  those 
of  the  pistols  carried  by  the  men,  and  George  Lech- 
mere's  revolver.  Scarce  a  shot  missed.  Ten  of  the 
negroes  fell,  and  those  attacking  from  the  right  turned 
and  bolted  among  the  trees.  The  negroes  on  the  left, 
however,  inspired  by  the  roaring  of  the  horns  and  the 
shrieking  yells  of  the  Obi  man,  came  on  with  greater 
determination  and  dashed  across  the  path. 

"  Now,  Dominique,  at  them !  "  Frank  shouted,  as 
with  the  two  sailors  he  rushed  across. 

The  numbers  now  were  not  very  uneven.  Of  the 
twenty  negroes  on  that  side  five  had  fallen  under  the 
musketry  and  pistol  fire  and  two  others  were  wounded, 
and  as  Frank's  party  and  the  blacks  fell  upon  them 
they  hesitated.  The  struggle  was  not  doubtful  for  a 
moment.  Six  of  the  negroes  were  cut  down  and  thq 
rest  fled. 

"  Don't  pursue  them,  men,"  Frank  shouted ;  and 
the  sailors  at  once  drew  off,  but  Dominique  and  hi^ 
black  boatmen  still  pursued  hotly,  overtaking  and  cut- 
ting down  three  more  of  their  assailants. 

"  All  is  over  for  the  present,"  Frank  said,  going  to 
the  spot  where  Bertha  and  Anna  were  crouching; 
"  not  one  of  us  is  hurt  as  far  as  I  know,  and  we 
have  accounted  for  sixteen  or  seventeen  of  these  ras- 
cals." 

Bertha  got  up.  She  was  a  little  pale,  but  perfectly 
calm  and  quiet. 

"  It  is  horrid,  being  hidden  like  that  when  you  are 
all  fighting,  Frank,"  she  said,  reproachfully. 

"We  were  hidden,  too,  till  they  came  at  us,"  he 
said,  "  and  very  lucky  it  was,  for  some  of  us  would 
probably  have  been  hit,  bad  shots  though  they  are." 


288  THE   QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"No,  Frank,  not  before  all  these  men,"  she  remon- 
strated. 

"  What  do  I  care  for  the  men  ?  "  he  laughed.  "  Do 
you  think  if  they  had  their  sweethearts  with  them 
they  would  mind  who  was  looking  on?  There,  I  must 
be  content  with  that  for  the  present.  We  must  push 
on  again." 

Dominique  had  returned  now  with  his  men,  and  the 
party  started  again  at  a  trot,  as  soon  as  the  firearms 
had  all  been  reloaded. 

"  We  shan't  have  any  more  trouble,  shall  we  ? " 
Bertha  asked. 

"  Not  for  the  present,"  he  said.  "  We  have  fairly 
routed  the  blacks  who  came  here  with  you,  and  the 
villagers,  and  they  certainly  won't  attack  us  again  until 
they  are  largely  reinforced,  which  they  cannot  be  until 
we  get  down  towards  the  sea,  for  there  are  no  villages 
of  any  size  in  the  hills." 

After  keeping  up  the  pace  for  a  mile,  Frank  ordered 
the  men  to  drop  into  a  walk  again. 

"  Now,  Frank,  about  my  mother  ? "  Bertha  asked 
again  as  soon  as  she  had  got  her  breath;  and  Frank 
related  all  that  had  taken  place  up  to  the  time  that 
the  Osprey  sailed. 

"  Then  she  is  all  alone  in  town  ?  It  must  be  ter- 
rible for  her,  waiting  there  without  any  news  of  me.  It 
is  a  pity  that  she  did  not  go  home.  It  would  not  have 
mattered  about  me,  and  it  would  have  been  so  much 
better  for  her  among  her  old  friends;  they  would  all 
have  sympathised  with  her  so  much." 

"I  quite  agreed  with  her,  Bertha,  and  think  still 
that  it  was  better  that  she  should  stay  in  London.  I 
am  sure  the  sympathy  would  do  her  harm  rather  than 
good;  as  it  is,  now  she  will  be  kept  up  by  the  belief 
that  she  is  doing  all  in  her  power  for  you  by  saving 
you  from  the  hideous  amount  of  talk  and  chatter  there 
would  be  if  this  affair  were  known." 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  289 

"  Of  course,  it  would  be  horrid,  Frank,  and  per- 
haps you  are  right,  but  it  must  be  an  awful  trial." 

"I  have  done  all  I  could  to  set  her  mind  at  rest," 
Frank  said.  "  I  wrote  to  her  directly  I  arrived  at 
Gibraltar  and  again  as  soon  as  I  got  the  letter  from 
Madeira  saying  that  the  brigantine  had  touched  there. 
I  wrote  from  Madeira  again  with  what  news  I  could 
pick  up,  and  again  from  Porto  Rico,  from  the  Virgin 
Islands,  and  from  San  Domingo.  Of  course,  from 
there  I  was  able  to  say  that  the  scent  was  getting  hot, 
and  that  I  had  no  doubt  I  should  not  be  long  before 
I  fell  in  with  the  brigantine.  Then  I  sent  another 
letter  from  Jaquemel.  That  seems  to  me  a  long  time 
ago,  for  we  have  done  so  much  since;  but  it  is  not 
more  than  ten  days  back.  We  will  post  another  letter 
the  first  time  that  we  touch  anywhere,  on  the  off  chance 
of  its  going  home  by  a  mail  steamer,  and  getting  there 
before  us." 

"  It  was  wonderful  your  finding  out  that  I  had  been 
carried  off  in  the  Phantom.  That  was  what  trou- 
bled me  most,  except  about  mother.  I  did  not  see  how 
you  could  guess  that  the  brigantine  we  had  both  no- 
ticed the  day  before  was  the  Phantom.  I  felt  sure 
that  you  would  suspect  who  it  was,  but  I  could  not 
see  how  you  would  connect  the  two  together." 

"  You  see,  I  did  not  guess  it  at  first,"  he  replied. 
"  I  felt  sure  that  it  was  Carthew  from  the  first  minute 
when  I  found  that  you  had  not  landed,  and  it  was  just 
the  luck  of  finding  out  that  the  Phantom's  crew  had 
returned  and  that  they  had  been  paid  off  at  Ostend 
that  put  me  on  the  track.  Of  course,  directly  I  heard 
that  she  had  been  altered  and  turned  into  a  brigantine 
I  felt  sure  that  she  was  the  craft  that  we  had  noticed, 
and  as  soon  as  I  learned  through  Lloyd's  that  she  had 
sailed  south  from  the  Lizard  I  felt  certain  that  she 
must  have  gone  up  the  Mediterranean  or  to  the  West 
Indies.  I  felt  sure  it  was  the  latter.  However,  it  was 


290  THfi   QUEEN'S  CUP. 

a  great  relief  when  I  got  a  letter  from  Lloyd's  agent 
at  Madeira,  telling  me  that  the  brigantine  had  touched 
there,  and  I  felt  certain  that  I  should  hear  of  you 
either  here  or  at  one  of  the  South  American  ports." 

They  kept  on  until  they  reached  the  hut  at  the 
point  where  the  path  forked.  It  was  found  to  be 
empty. 

"  Open  the  basket,"  Frank  said ;  "  we  must  have 
a  meal  before  we  go  further.  We  have  come  about 
half  the  distance.  Now,  Bertha,  there  is  the  bay,  you 
see,  and  it  is  all  downhill,  which  is  a  comfort.  Do 
you  feel  tired,  dear  ?  " 

"  Not  tired,"  she  said,  "  but  my  feet  are  aching  a 
bit.  You  see,  I  had  thin  deck  shoes  on  when  we  were 
hurried  ashore,  and  they  are  not  good  for  walking 
long  distances  in." 

"  Well,  we  will  have  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  rest," 
he  said.  "  It  is  getting  dark  fast,  and  by  the  time  we 
go  on  it  will  be  night,  and  will  be  a  great  deal  cooler 
than  it  has  been." 

"  I  can  go  on  at  once  if  you  like,"  she  said. 

"  No,  dear ;  there  is  no  use  in  hurrying.  We  may 
as  well  stop  half  an  hour  as  a  quarter.  Don't  you  hear 
that?" 

The  girl  listened. 

"  It  is  a  horn,  is  it  not  ? "  she  asked,  after  a  pause. 

"  Yes,  I  can  hear  it  in  half  a  dozen  directions,"  he 
said.  "  That  scoundrel  of  an  Obi  man  is  down  there 
ahead  of  us,  and  that  unearthly  row  he  and  his  follow- 
ers are  making  will  rouse  up  all  the  villagers  within 
hearing.  We  will  try  to  give  him  the  slip.  I  intend 
to  take  the  path  we  came  by  for  four  or  five  miles,  and 
then  to  strike  off  by  one  to  the  right  and  hit  the  main 
road  to  Port  au  Prince,  a  good  bit  to  the  east  of  where 
we  quitted  it.  The  country  is  all  cultivated  there,  and 
we  will  strike  down  towards  the  bay  and  make  our 
way  through  the  fields,  and  if  we  have  luck  we  may 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  291 

be  able  to  get  down  to  the  place  where  the  gig  will  be 
waiting  for  us  without  meeting  any  of  them." 

"  Oh,  I  do  hope  there  will  be  no  more  fighting, 
Frank !  You  may  not  all  get  off  as  well  as  you  did  last 
time." 

"  We  must  take  our  chance  of  that,  dear.  At  any 
rate  the  country  will  be  open,  and  we  shall  be  able  to 
keep  in  a  solid  body,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  we  shall 
be  able  to  beat  them  off." 

"  Could  we  not  go  down  to  the  shore  and  get  a 
boat  somewhere  and  row  to  the  yacht?" 

"Yes,  we  might  manage  that,  perhaps.  That  is  a 
capital  idea,  Bertha.  There  is  a  place  called  Nipes, 
twelve  or  fourteen  miles  east  of  our  inlet.  It  won't 
be  very  much  further  to  go,  for  we  have  been  bearing 
eastward  all  the  way  here.  Making  sure  that  we  shall 
go  straight  for  the  yacht,  they  will  gather  in  that  direc- 
tion first,  and  won't  think  of  giving  the  alarm  so  far 
east.  There  was  a  path,  if  I  remember  right,  that 
came  up  from  that  direction  a  quarter  of  a  mile  fur- 
ther on.  We  will  turn  off  by  it." 

As  soon  as  the  meal  was  over  they  started  again. 
They  found  the  path  Frank  had  spoken  of,  and  fol- 
lowed it  down  until  they  came  among  trees.  Then 
Dominique  lighted  his  lantern  again. 

For  a  time  the  two  women  kept  on  travelling,  but 
after  five  miles  Bertha  was  compelled  to  stop  and  take 
off  her  shoes  altogether.  For  two  miles  further  she 
refused  the  offers  to  carry  her,  but  at  last  was  forced 
to  own  that  she  could  go  no  further.  The  two  litters 
were  at  once  brought  up,  and  the  four  sailors,  Domi- 
nique and  the  three  uninjured  boatmen,  lifted  them 
and  went  along  at  a  trot,  George  Lechmere  leading  the 
way  with  a  lantern.  The  weight  of  the  girls  divided 
between  four  strong  men  was  a  mere  trifle,  and  they 
now  made  much  more  rapid  progress  than  they  had  be- 
fore, and  in  three  quarters  of  an  hour  arrived  at  Nipes. 


292  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

As  they  got  to  the  little  town,  Bertha  and  Anna 
got  out,  and  walked  so  as  to  attract  as  little  attention 
as  possible  among  the  negroes  in  the  streets.  Domi- 
nique answered  all  questions,  stating  that  they  were  a 
party  belonging  to  a  ship  in  Marsouin  Bay,  that  they 
had  been  on  a  sporting  expedition  over  the  hills,  and 
had  lost  their  way  and  now  wanted  a  boat  to  take 
them  back.  As  soon  as  they  reached  the  strand  half  a 
dozen  were  offered  to  them.  Dominique  chose  the  one 
that  looked  the  fastest.  He  told  the  boatman  that  the 
ladies  were  very  tired  and  they  wanted  to  get  back  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  he  must,  therefore,  engage  ten 
men  to  row,  as  the  wind  was  so  slight  as  to  be  useless. 
As  he  did  not  haggle  about  terms,  the  bargain  was 
speedily  concluded,  and  in  a  few  minutes  they  put  off. 
The  men,  animated  by  the  handsome  rate  of  pay  they 
were  to  receive,  rowed  hard,  and  in  a  little  over  two 
hours  they  entered  the  inlet  at  the  end  of  which 
the  Osprey  was  lying.  As  they  neared  the  end  the 
boatmen  were  surprised  at  seeing  a  large  number 
of  people  with  torches  on  the  rising  ground,  and  some- 
thing like  panic  seized  them  when  they  heard  the 
Obi  horns  sounding.  They  dropped  their  oars  at 
once. 

"  Tell  them  to  row  on,  Dominique,"  Frank  said, 
"  and  to  keep  close  along  the  opposite  side.  Tell  them 
that  if  they  don't  do  so  we  will  shoot  them.  No:  tell 
them  that  we  will  chuck  them  overboard  and  row  on 
ourselves." 

"  There  is  the  place  where  we  landed,"  Frank  said, 
presently,  to  Bertha  (the  men  had  resumed  their  row- 
ing), "  just  under  where  you  see  that  clump  of  torches." 

"  Ah,  there  is  our  boat,"  he  broke  off  suddenly,  as 
it  appeared  in  the  line  of  the  reflection  of  the  torches 
on  the  water.  It  was  half  a  mile  away,  lying  a  few 
hundred  yards  from  shore.  He  took  out  the  dog  whistle 
that  he  used  when  coming  down  to  the  landing-stage  to 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  293 

summon  the  boat  from  the  yacht,  and  blew  it.  There 
wae  a  stir  in  the  boat,  and  a  moment  later  it  was  speed- 
ing towards  them. 

"  Row  on,  Dominique ;  she  will  pick  us  up  in  no 
time."  And  long  before  they  reached  the  Osprey  the 
gig  was  alongside. 

"  Thank  God  that  you  are  back,  sir,"  they  cried  as 
they  came  abreast.  "  We  have  been  in  terrible  anx- 
iety about  you.  Have  you  succeeded,  sir  ?  " 

"  Don't  cheer ;  I  want  to  get  back  to  the  yacht  be- 
fore they  know  that  we  are  here.  Yes,  thank  God,  I 
have  succeeded.  Miss  Greendale  and  her  maid  are  on 
board." 

A  low  cheer,  which  even  his  order  could  not  en- 
tirely suppress,  came  from  the  three  men  in  the  boat. 
The  mate  was  himself  rowing  stroke. 

"We  did  not  dare  bring  any  more  hands,  sir,"  he 
said.  "  There  has  been  such  a  hubbub  on  shore  for 
the  last  hour  and  a  half  that  we  thought  it  likely  that 
they  and  the  Phantom's  people  might  be  going  to  at- 
tack us.  We  rowed  to  the  landing  at  ten  o'clock  as 
you  ordered  us,  but  in  a  short  time  a  party  of  men  came 
along  close  to  the  water,  and  as  soon  as  they  saw  us 
they  opened  fire  on  us  and  we  had  to  row  off  sharp. 
We  have  been  lying  off  here  since.  We  did  not  see  how 
you  could  get  down  through  that  lot,  but  we  thought 
it  better  to  wait.  I  did  think  there  was  just  a  hope 
that  you  might  make  your  way  down  to  the  coast  some- 
where else  and  come  on  in  a  shore  boat.  Well,  here 
we  are,  sir." 

As  he  spoke  they  came  alongside  the  Osprey. 

"Is  it  you,  sir?"  Hawkins  asked  eagerly. 

"Look  here,  lads,"  Frank  replied,  standing  up, 
"  above  all  things  I  don't  want  any  cheering,  or  any 
noise  whatever.  I  don't  want  them  to  know  that  we 
have  got  on  board.  I  know  that  you  will  all  rejoice 
with  me,  for  I  have  brought  off  Miss  Greendale,  and 


294  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

none  of  our  party  except  one  of  the  boatmen  has  been 
wounded  in  any  way  seriously." 

There  was  a  murmur  of  deep  satisfaction  from  the 
crew.  As  Bertha  stepped  on  deck  the  men  crowded 
round  with  low  exclamations  of  "  God  bless  you,  miss ! 
This  is  a  good  day  indeed  for  us !  "  Bertha,  in  reply 
to  the  greeting,  shook  hands  all  round. 

"  I  see  you  have  not  put  out  the  lights  in  the  cabin 
yet,  Hawkins.  I  will  just  go  down  with  Miss  Green- 
dale  and  see  that  she  is  comfortable,  and  then  I  will 
come  up  again." 

"  Oh,  Frank !  "  the  girl  exclaimed,  bursting  into 
tears  as  they  entered  the  saloon,  "  this  is  happiness  in- 
deed. I  feel  at  home  already." 

Frank  remained  with  her  for  three  or  four  minutes. 

"  Now,  dear,  take  possession  of  your  old  cabin 
again.  No  doubt  Anna  is  there  already.  She  had 
better  share  it  with  you.  Now  I  must  go  up  and  finish 
with  the  Phantom  at  once.  Do  not  be  afraid,  I  shall 
take  them  by  surprise,  and  there  will  be  very  little 
fighting."  And  without  waiting  for  remonstrance  he 
hurried  on  deck. 

"  Are  the  men  armed,  Hawkins  ?  " 

"  That  they  are,  sir.  We  have  been  expecting  an 
attack  every  minute.  There  have  been  three  or  four 
shore  boats  going  off  to  the  brigantine  within  the  last 
quarter  of  an  hour." 

"  I  am  going  to  be  beforehand  with  them,  Hawkins." 

"  They've  got  both  those  guns  pointing  this  way, 
sir." 

"  I  am  not  coming  from  this  way  to  attack  them. 
Hawkins;  I  am  going  to  put  all  hands  in  that  native 
craft  I  came  in,  row  off  a  little  distance  from  this  side, 
then  make  a  circuit,  and  come  down  on  the  other  side 
of  them.  I  will  leave  George  Lechmere  here  with  four 
men,  with  three  muskets  apiece,  so  that  if  they  should 
start  before  we  get  there  they  can  keep  them  off  until 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  295 

we  arrive.    If  I  can  get  a  few  of  the  boatmen  to  enlist 
I  will  do  so." 

He  spoke  to  Dominique,  who  went  to  the  side  and 
asked: 

"  If  any  of  you  are  disposed  to  stop  here  to  guard 
the  craft  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  case  she  is  at- 
tacked, the  gentleman  here  will  pay  twenty  dollars 
a  man;  but  remember  that  you  may  have  to  fight." 

The  whole  crew  rose.  Twenty  dollars  was  a  for- 
tune to  them. 

"  Come  on  board,  then,"  Dominique  said. 

"I  don't  know  whether  these  fellows  are  to  be 
trusted,  George,  but  I  hope  you  won't  be  attacked. 
Keep  these  fifteen  muskets  for  yourselves.  Put  four 
apiece  by  the  bulwarks  and  station  yourselves  by  them. 
Keep  your  eyes  on  these  boatmen,  put  the  oars  of  the 
boat  handy  for  them,  and  let  them  arm  themselves 
with  them.  If  you  are  attacked  an  oar  is  not  a  bad 
weapon  for  repelling  boarders." 

"All  right,  Major;  I  will  station  two  of  them  be- 
tween each  of  us." 

By  this  time  the  captain  had  picked  out  the  four 
men  that  were  to  remain,  and  had  the  rest  drawn  up 
in  readiness  to  get  into  the  boat. 

"  Get  in  quietly,  lads,"  Frank  said.  "  Ten  of  you 
man  the  oars;  we  will  put  an  end  to  the  Phantom's 
wanderings  to-night." 

"  That  we  will,  sir,"  was  the  hearty  rejoinder  of  the 
men. 

Frank  took  the  tiller,  and  they  rowed  straight  away 
from  the  Osprey  for  a  hundred  yards,  when  Frank 
steered  towards  the  right  bank  where  there  were  no 
torches,  and  where  all  was  quiet.  The  brigantine  could 
be  seen  plainly  standing  up  against  the  glare  of  the 
torches  on  the  other  side.  They  rowed  three  or  four 
hundred  yards  beyond  her,  then  taking  a  turn  ap- 
proached her  on  the  side  opposite  to  that  facing  the 


296  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

Osprey.  Three  native  boats  like  their  own  were  lying 
beside  her,  and  there  was  a  crowd  of  men  on  her  deck. 
Frank  brought  her  round  alongside  of  these  boats.  He 
had  already  ordered  that  firearms  were  not  to  be  used 
in  the  first  place. 

"  I  don't  want  to  kill  any  of  these  blacks,"  he  said. 
"  They  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  affair,  and  they 
believe  us  to  be  pirates.  I  expect  that  we  shall  get 
on  board  unnoticed.  Then  with  a  cheer  go  at  them 
with  the  flat  of  your  cutlasses.  You  can  use  the  edge 
on  the  whites  if  they  resist.  But  I  expect  that  the 
blacks  will  all  jump  overboard  in  a  panic,  and  that 
then  the  whites,  seeing  that  they  are  outnumbered, 
will  surrender." 

No  one,  indeed,  noticed  them.  There  was  a  great 
hubbub  and  confusion,  and  the  captain  was  endeavour- 
ing to  get  them  into  something  like  order  when  sud- 
denly there  was  a  loud  cheer,  and  Frank's  party  fell 
upon  them.  Yells  of  terror  rose  as  the  sailors,  Domi- 
nique and  his  blacks  sprang  among  them,  striking 
heavily  with  the  flat  of  their  cutlasses,  and  the  sailors 
using  their  fists  freely.  Frank  had  brought  with  him  a 
heavy  belaying  pin,  and  used  it  with  great  effect.  The 
blacks  in  the  panic  fell  over  each  other,  and  rushing 
to  the  side  jumped  overboard,  some  into  their  boats, 
and  some  into  the  water.  The  white  sailors,  carried 
away  by  the  stampede,  and  separated  from  each  other, 
were  unable  to  act.  The  captain,  drawing  a  brace  of 
pistols  from  his  belt,  fired  one  shot,  but  before  he  could 
fire  another  Frank  hurled  the  iron  belaying  pin  at  him. 
It  struck  him  in  the  face,  and  he  fell  insensible.  The 
Belgian  sailors,  seeing  themselves  altogether  outnum- 
bered and  without  a  leader,  threw  down  their  arms. 

"  Tie  their  hands  and  feet,"  Frank  ordered,  "  and 
bundle  them  into  one  of  the  native  boats." 

Two  of  these  had  pushed  off  and  lay  fifty  yards 
away,  and  the  sea  was  dotted  with  the  heads  of  swim- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  297 

mers  making  towards  them.  The  Belgian  sailors  were 
placed  in  the  other  boat. 

"  Put  their  captain  in,  too,"  Frank  said ;  "  he  will 
come  round  presently.  Now  four  of  you  jump  into  our 
boat  and  cast  her  off.  Captain,  will  you  look  about 
for  the  oil,  and  pour  it  over  all  the  beds,  but  don't 
set  them  on  fire  until  I  give  the  order.  Now,  lads,  two 
of  you  run  below  and  get  the  cushions  off  the  star- 
board sofa.  Purvis,  get  the  skylight  open  on  the  port 
side,  and  wheel  the  two  guns  round,  and  point  them 
down  into  the  cabin.  I  will  train  them  myself  on  the 
same  spot  just  at  the  back  of  that  seat.  They  might 
come  off  and  extinguish  the  fire,  though  I  don't  think 
they  will;  but  we  will  make  sure  by  blowing  a  hole 
through  her  side  under  the  water  line." 

Five  minutes  were  sufficient  to  make  the  prepara- 
tions, and  the  captain  came  up  and  reported  that  all 
was  ready. 

"  I  have  heaped  up  all  the  bedding  on  the  floor,  sir, 
and  poured  plenty  of  oil  over  it,"  he  said. 

"  Very  well,  then,  take  two  men  aft,  and  begin  there 
and  work  your  way  forward,  and  finish  with  the  f o'c'sle 
hammocks.  You  can  begin  at  once." 

In  a  minute  there  was  a  glare  of  light  through 
the  stern  cabin  skylight,  while  almost  at  the  same  mo- 
ment a  dense  cloud  of  smoke  poured  up  the  compan- 
ion. Then  the  light  shone  up  through  the  bull's-eyes 
on  deck  of  the  other  state-rooms;  then  the  captain 
and  the  two  hands  ran  through  the  saloon  forward. 
Frank  went  to  the  fo'castle  hatch,  and  stooping  down 
saw  the  captain  apply  the  fire  to  a  great  heap  of  bed- 
ding. 

"  That  will  do,  Hawkins,"  he  said.  "  Come  up  at 
once  with  the  men,  or  you  will  be  suffocated  down 
there." 

They  ran  up  on  deck,  and  a  minute  later  a  volume 
of  flame  burst  out  through  the  hatch.  Frank  went 


298  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

to  the  guns,  and  lighting  two  matches  gave  one  to 
Hawkins. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  both  together." 

The  two  reports  were  blended  in  one,  and  as  the 
smoke  cleared  away  Frank  could  see,  by  the  cabin 
lamp  that  was  still  burning,  a  spurt  of  water  shooting 
up  from  a  ragged  hole  at  the  back  of  the  sofa.  Fired 
at  such  a  short  distance,  the  bullets  with  which  the 
guns  were  crammed  had  struck  like  solid  shot. 

"  Into  the  boats,  men !  "  Frank  shouted. 

"  Shall  we  take  these  chaps  off  with  us,  sir  1 "  the 
captain  said.  "  They  will  be  keepsakes." 

"  All  right,  Hawkins,  in  with  them." 

The  tongue  of  fire  leaping  up  from  the  forecastle, 
followed  by  the  discharge  of  the  guns,  had  been  the 
first  intimation  to  those  on  the  Osprey  of  what  had 
happened. 

Bertha  and  her  maid  ran  up  on  deck  at  the  sound 
of  the  cannon. 

"  What  is  that  ? "  the  former  asked,  in  alarm. 

"  It  is  all  right,  Miss  Greendale,"  George  Lechmere 
said,  leaving  the  side  and  coming  up  to  her ;  "  the 
Major  has  captured  the  brigantine  almost  without 
fighting.  There  was  only  one  pistol  shot  fired.  I  did 
not  hear  a  single  clash  of  a  sword,  and  the  blacks  on 
board  jumped  straight  into  the  water.  I  was  just 
coming  to  call  you  as  you  came  up.  The  brigantine  is 
well  on  fire,  you  see." 

"  But  I  thought  I  heard  the  cannon." 

"Yes,  the  Major  has  fired  them  down  the  skylight, 
BO  as  to  make  sure  of  her.  Do  you  see,  miss,  they  are 
putting  the  guns  in  the  boat  now.  They  will  be  back 
here  in  a  few  minutes." 

By  the  time  the  boat  came  alongside  the  flames 
from  the  after-skylight  had  lit  the  mainsail  and  were 
running  up  the  rigging.  A  minute  later  they  burst 
out  from  the  companion  and  the  skylight. 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  299 

"  Thank  God  that  is  all  over,  Frank,"  Bertha  said, 
as  they  stood  together  watching  the  sight. 

The  inlet  was  now  lit  up  from  side  to  side.  On 
shore  a  state  of  wild  excitement  prevailed;  the  boats 
had  reached  the  shore,  and  the  negroes  there  had 
rushed  down  to  hear  what  had  taken  place,  and  to  in- 
quire after  friends.  Above  the  yells  and  shouts  of  the 
frenzied  negroes  sounded  the  deep  roar  of  the  horns 
and  the  angry  beating  of  the  Obi  drums.  Numbers  of 
torch-bearers  were  among  the  crowd;  and  although 
nearly  half  a  mile  away,  the  scene  could  be  perfectly 
made  out  from  the  yacht.  The  boatmen  had  received 
their  promised  pay  as  soon  as  Frank  had  reached  the 
yacht,  and  had  taken  their  places  in  their  boat,  but 
Dominique  told  Frank  that  they  would  not  go  till 
the  Osprey  sailed,  as  they  were  afraid  of  being  pur- 
sued and  attacked  by  the  villagers'  boats  if  they  did  so. 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

As  Frank  stood  gazing  at  the  scene,  George  Lech- 
mere  touched  him.  Frank,  looking  round,  saw  that 
he  wished  to  speak  to  him  privately. 

"  What  is  it,  George  ? "  he  asked,  when  he  had 
stepped  a  few  paces  from  Bertha. 

"  Look  there,  Major,"  George  said,  handing  him 
a  field  glass ;  "  I  thought  I  had  settled  old  scores  with 
him,  but  the  devil  has  looked  after  his  own." 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say,  George,  that  it  is  Carthew 
again." 

"  It  is  he,  sure  enough,  sir ;  I  would  have  sworn 
that  I  had  done  for  him.  If  I  had  thought  there  had 
been  the  slightest  doubt  about  it,  I  would  have  put  a 
pistol  ball  through  his  head." 

Frank  raised  the  glass  to  his  eyes.  Just  where  the 
torches  were  thickest  he  could  make  out  a  man's  figure 
raised  above  the  heads  of  the  rest.  He  was  supported 
on  a  litter;  his  head  was  swathed  with  bandages.  He 
had  raised  himself  into  a  sitting  position,  supported 
by  one  arm,  while  he  waved  the  other  passionately. 
He  was  evidently  haranguing  the  crowd.  As  Frank 
looked,  he  saw  the  figure  sink  down;  then  there  was  a 
deep  roll  of  the  drum  and  a  fantastic-looking  figure, 
daubed  as  it  seemed  with  paint  and  wearing  a  huge 
mask,  appeared  in  his  place.  The  drum  and  the  horns 
were  silent,  and  the  shouting  of  the  negroes  was  at 
once  hushed.  This  man,  too,  harangued  the  crowd, 
and  when  he  ceased  there  was  a  loud  yell  and  a  gen- 
eral movement  among  the  throng.  At  the  moment, 
Hawkins  came  up. 
300 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  301 

"  The  chain  is  up  and  down,  sir.  Shall  I  make 
sail?  The  wind  is  very  light,  but  I  think  that  it  is 
enough  to  take  her  out." 

"Yes,  make  sail,  Hawkins,  as  quickly  as  you  can. 
I  am  afraid  that  those  fellows  are  coming  out  to  attack 
us,  and  I  don't  want  to  kill  any  of  the  poor  devils. 
There  is  a  small  boat  coming  out  from  the  shore  to- 
wards that  craft.  The  white  sailors  are  on  board,  and 
we  shall  have  them  on  us,  too." 

"  Up  with  the  anchor,"  Hawkins  shouted ;  "  make 
sail  at  once;  look  sharp,  my  hearties,  work  with  a  will, 
or  we  shall  have  those  niggers  on  us  again." 

Never  was  sail  made  on  the  Osprey  more  quickly, 
and  by  the  time  that  the  anchor  was  apeak  all  the 
lower  sails  were  set. 

"  Shall  I  tell  the  blacks  to  tow  their  boat  behind 
us  ? "  Hawkins  asked  Frank,  as  the  yacht  began  to 
steal  through  the  water. 

"  No ;  let  them  tow  alongside,  Hawkins ;  I  don't 
suppose  the  people  ashore  know  that  we  have  a  native 
boat  with  us.  If  they  did,  they  would  be  sure  that  it 
came  from  Nipes,  and  it  might  set  up  a  feud  and  cost 
them  their  lives,  especially  as  that  Obi  scoundrel  is  con- 
cerned in  the  affair." 

Then  he  moved  away  to  George  Lechmere. 

"  Don't  say  a  word  about  that  fellow  Carthew,"  he 
said.  "  Miss  Greendale  thinks  he  is  killed ;  and  it  is 
just  as  well  that  she  should  continue  to  think  that  she 
is  safe  from  him  in  the  future." 

"  So  far  as  she  is  concerned,  I  think  that  is  true ; 
but  I  would  not  answer  for  you,  Major.  You  have 
ruined  his  plans  and  burned  his  yacht,  and  as  long  as 
he  lives  he  will  never  forgive  you." 

"  Well,  it  is  of  no  use  to  worry  about  it  now,  George ; 
but  I  expect  that  we  shall  hear  more  about  him  some 
day." 

"  What  are  they  doing,  Frank  ? "  Bertha  asked,  as 
20 


302  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

he  rejoined  her.  "  I  think  that  they  are  getting  into 
the  boats  again." 

"  Yes ;  I  fancy  they  are  going  to  try  to  take  us, 
but  they  have  no  more  chance  of  doing  so  than  they 
have  of  flying.  The  Obi  man  has  worked  them  up  to 
a  state  of  frenzy,  but  it  will  evaporate  pretty  quickly 
when  they  get  within  range  of  our  muskets." 

"  But  we  have  got  the  cannon  on  board,  have  we 
not?" 

"  Yes ;  but  we  did  not  bring  off  any  ammunition 
with  us.  It  was  the  men's  idea  to  bring  them  as  a 
trophy.  However,  I  have  plenty  of  powder  and  can 
load  them  with  bullets;  but  I  certainly  won't  use  them 
if  it  can  be  possibly  avoided.  I  have  no  grudge  against 
the  poor  fellows  who  have  been  told  that  we  are  des- 
perate pirates,  and  who  are  only  doing  what  they  be- 
lieve to  be  a  meritorious  action  in  trying  to  capture  us." 

In  a  few  minutes  six  boats  put  out  from  the  shore. 
The  Osprey  was  not  going  through  the  water  more 
than  two  miles  an  hour,  though  she  had  every  stitch  of 
canvas  spread.  Frank  had  the  guns  taken  aft  and 
loaded.  As  the  boats  came  within  the  circle  of  the 
light  of  the  burning  yacht,  it  could  be  seen  that  they 
were  crowded  with  men  who  encouraged  themselves 
with  defiant  yells  and  shouts,  which  excited  the  de- 
rision of  the  Osprey's  crew.  When  they  got  within  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  they  opened  a  fusillade  of  musketry, 
but  the  balls  dropped  in  the  water  some  distance  astern 
of  the  yacht.  As  the  boats  came  nearer,  however,  they 
began  to  drop  round  her. 

"  Sit  down  behind  the  bulwarks,"  Frank  said ; 
"  they  are  not  good  shots,  but  a  stray  ball  might  come 
on  board,  and  there  is  no  use  running  risks." 

By  this  time  he  had  persuaded  Bertha  to  go  below. 
The  boats  rowed  on  until  some  seventy  or  eighty  yards 
off  the  Osprey.  The  shouting  had  gradually  died 
away,  for  the  silence  on  board  the  yacht  oppressed 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  303 

them.  There  was  something  unnatural  about  it,  and 
their  superstitious  fear  of  the  Obi  man  disappeared 
before  their  dread  of  the  unknown.  As  if  affected 
simultaneously  by  the  disquietude  of  their  compan- 
ions, the  rowers  all  stopped  work  at  the  same  mo- 
ment. Dominique  had  already  received  instructions, 
and  at  once  hailed  them  in  French. 

"  If  you  value  your  lives,  turn  back.  We  have  the 
guns  of  the  brigantine;  they  are  crammed  with  bul- 
lets and  are  pointed  at  you.  The  owner  has  but  to 
give  the  word  and  you  will  all  be  blown  to  pieces.  He 
is  a  good  man,  and  wishes  you  no  harm.  We  have 
come  here  not  to  quarrel  with  you  poor  ignorant  black 
fellows,  but  to  rescue  two  ladies  the  villain  that  ship 
belongs  to  had  carried  off.  Therefore,  go  away  back 
to  your  wives  and  families  while  you  are  able  to,  for 
if  you  come  but  one  foot  nearer  not  one  of  you  will 
live  to  return." 

The  news  that  the  Osprey  had  the  cannon  from 
the  brigantine  on  board  came  like  a  thunderbolt  upon 
the  negroes.  The  prospect  of  a  fight  with  the  men  who 
had  so  easily  captured  the  brigantine  was  unpleasant 
enough,  but  that  they  were  also  to  encounter  cannon 
was  altogether  too  much  for  them,  and  a  general  shout 
of  "  Don't  fire ;  we  go  back !  "  rose  from  the  boats. 
For  a  minute  or  two  they  lay  motionless,  afraid  even 
to  dip  an  oar  in  the  water  lest  it  should  bring  down 
a  storm  upon  them,  but  as  the  Osprey  glided  slowly 
away  the  rearmost  boat  began  to  turn  round,  the  others 
followed  her  example,  and  they  were  soon  rowing  back 
even  more  rapidly  than  they  had  come. 

"You  can  cast  off  that  boat,  Hawkins,  as  soon  as 
we  are  out  into  the  bay,"  Frank  said,  and  then  went 
down  below. 

"  Our  troubles  are  all  over  at  last,  dear,  and  we 
can  have  a  quiet  talk,"  he  said.  "As  I  expected,  the 
negroes  lost  heart  as  soon  as  they  came  near,  and  the 


304  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

threat  of  a  round  of  grape  from  the  guns  finally  settled 
them.  They  are  off  for  home,  and  we  shall  hear  no 
more  of  them.  Now  you  had  best  be  off  to  bed  at  once ; 
you  have  had  a  terrible  day  of  it,  and  it  is  just  two 
o'clock.  Ah!  that  is  right,"  he  broke  off,  as  the  stew- 
ard entered  carrying  a  tray  with  tea  things.  "  I  had 
forgotten  all  about  that  necessity.  You  had  better  call 
Anna  in;  she  must  want  a  cup  too,  poor  girl." 

"  Yes,  I  should  like  a  cup  of  tea,"  Bertha  said,  as 
she  sat  down  to  the  tray,  "  but  I  really  don't  feel  so 
tired  as  you  would  think." 

"  You  will  feel  it  all  the  more  afterwards,  I  am 
afraid,"  Frank  replied.  "  The  excitement  has  kept 
you  up." 

"Yes,  we  felt  dreadfully  tired,  didn't  we,  Anna, 
before  we  gave  up?  But  the  two  hours'  row  in  the 
boat  and  all  this  excitement  here  have  made  me  almost 
forget  it.  It  seems  to  me  now  quite  impossible  that 
it  can  be  only  about  nine  hours  since  you  rushed  out 
so  suddenly  with  your  men.  It  seems  to  me  quite  far 
off ;  further  than  many  things  do  that  happened  a  week 
ago.  And  please  to  remember  that  your  advice  to  go 
to  bed  is  quite  as  seasonable  in  your  case  as  in  mine." 

When  he  had  seen  them  leave  the  saloon,  Frank 
went  on  deck  for  a  last  look  round. 

"  I  don't  think  that  there  is  a  chance  of  anything 
happening  before  morning,  Hawkins,  but  you  will,  of 
course,  keep  a  sharp  look-out  and  let  me  know." 

"I  will  look  out,  sir.  I  have  sent  the  four  hands 
who  were  with  you  down  to  their  berths  as  soon  as  the 
niggers  turned  back.  Lechmere  has  turned  in,  too." 

"  Is  the  wind  freshening  at  all  ?  " 

"  Not  yet,  sir.  I  don't  suppose  that  we  shall  get 
more  than  we  have  now  till  day  begins  to  break.  Still, 
we  are  crawling  on  and  shall  be  out  in  the  bay  in  an- 
other quarter  of  an  hour." 

When  Frank  got  up  at  sunrise  he  found  that  the 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  305 

yacht  was  just  rounding  the  point  of  the  bay.  He 
looked  behind;  no  boat  was  in  view. 

"  Nothing  moving,  I  see,"  he  said,  as  the  first  mate, 
who  was  in  charge,  came  up. 

"  We  have  not  seen  a  thing  on  the  water,  sir." 

"  I  hardly  expected  that  there  would  be.  It  is  prob- 
able that  as  soon  as  the  boats  got  back  Carthew  sent 
his  skipper  or  mate  off  with  a  couple  of  the  men  to 
Port  au  Prince,  to  lay  a  complaint  for  piracy  against 
me.  But  even  if  they  got  horses  it  would  take  them 
a  couple  of  days  to  get  there;  that  is,  if  they  are  not 
much  better  riders  than  the  majority  of  sailors  are. 
Then  it  is  likely  that  there  would  be  some  time  lost  in 
formalities,  and  even  if  there  was  a  Government  steam- 
er lying  in  the  port  it  would  take  her  a  long  time  to  get 
up  steam.  Moreover,  I  am  by  no  means  sure  that  even 
Carthew  would  venture  on  such  an  impudent  thing 
as  that.  It  is  certain  that  we  should  get  into  a  bad 
scrape  for  boarding  and  burning  a  vessel  in  Haytian 
waters,  but  that  is  all  the  harm  he  could  do  us.  The 
British  Consul  would  certainly  be  more  likely  to  be- 
lieve the  story  of  the  owner  of  a  Royal  Squadron  yacht, 
backed  by  that  of  her  captain,  mates  and  crew,  and 
by  Miss  Greendale  and  her  maid,  than  the  tale  of  the 
owner  of  a  vessel  that  could  give  no  satisfactory  ex- 
planation for  being  here.  Besides,  he  will  know  that 
before  a  steamer  could  start  in  chase  we  should  be 
certainly  two,  or  perhaps  three,  days  away,  and  whether 
we  should  make  for  Jamaica  or  Bermuda,  or  round  the 
northwestern  point  of  the  bay,  and  then  for  England, 
he  could  have  no  clue  whatever." 

"How  shall  I  lay  her  course,  sir?  The  wind  has 
freshened  already,  and  we  are  slipping  through  the 
water  at  a  good  four  knots  now." 

"We  will  keep  along  this  side  as  far  as  the  Point 
at  any  rate.  If  Carthew  has  sent  for  a  steamer  he  is 
likely  to  have  ordered  a  man  down  to  this  headland  to 


306  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

see  which  course  we  are  taking.  When  we  have  got 
so  far  that  we  cannot  be  made  out  from  there,  we  will 
sail  north  for  Cape  la  Mole.  I  think  it  would  be  safe 
enough  to  lay  our  course  at  once,  but  I  do  not  wish 
to  run  the  slightest  risk  that  can  be  avoided." 

The  wind  continued  to  freshen,  and  to  Frank's  sat- 
isfaction they  were,  when  Bertha  came  on  deck  at 
eight  o'clock,  running  along  the  coast  at  seven  knots 
an  hour. 

"  Have  you  slept  well  ? "  he  asked,  as  he  took  her 
hand. 

"  Yes.  I  thought  when  I  lay  down  that  it  would 
be  impossible  for  me  to  sleep  at  all — it  had  been  such 
a  wonderful  day,  it  was  all  so  strange,  so  sudden,  and 
so  happy — and  just  as  I  was  thinking  so,  I  suppose  I 
dropped  off  and  slept  till  Anna  woke  me  three  quarters 
of  an  hour  ago  and  told  me  what  time  it  was.  Frank, 
I  did  not  say  anything  yesterday,  not  even  a  single 
word  of  thanks,  for  all  that  you  have  done  for  me; 
but  you  know  very  well  that  it  was  not  because  I  did 
not  feel  it,  but  because  if  I  had  said  anything  at  all 
I  should  have  broken  down,  and  that  was  the  very 
thing  that  I  knew  I  ought  not  to  do.  But  you  know, 
don't  you,  that  I  shall  have  all  my  life  to  prove  how 
thankful  I  am." 

"  I  know,  dear,  and  between  us  surely  nothing  need 
be  said.  I  am  as  thankful  that  I  have  been  the  means 
of  saving  you  as  you  can  be  that  I  was  almost  miracu- 
lously enabled  to  follow  your  track  so  successfully." 

"  Breakfast  is  ready,  sir,"'  the  steward  announced 
from  the  companion. 

"  Coming,  steward.  I  have  told  them,  Bertha,  to 
lay  for  three.  I  thought  that  it  would  be  pleasanter 
for  you  to  have  Anna  with  you  at  meals,  as  I  suppose 
she  has  taken  them  with  you  since  you  were  carried 
off." 

"Thank  you,"  she  said,  gratefully;  "it  won't  be 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  307 

quite  so  nice  for  you,  I  know,  but  perhaps  it  will  be 
better." 

"  Well,  Anna,  you  are  looking  very  well,"  Frank 
said  as  he  sat  down.  "You  must  officiate  with  the 
coffee,  Bertha;  I  will  see  after  the  eatables." 

"  Yes,  Anna  does  look  well,"  Bertha  said.  "  She 
has  borne  up  capitally  ever  since  the  first  two  days. 
We  have  had  all  our  meals  together  in  our  cabin." 

"  Miss  Greendale  has  been  a  great  deal  braver  than 
I  have,  sir,"  Anna  said,  quietly;  "she  has  been  won- 
derfully brave,  and  though  she  is  very  good  to  say  that 
I  have  borne  up  well,  I  know  very  well  that  I  have  not 
been  as  brave  as  I  ought,  and  I  could  not  help  break- 
ing down  and  crying  sometimes,  for  I  did  think  that 
we  should  never  get  home  again." 

"Except  carrying  you  away,  Carthew  did  not  be- 
have altogether  so  badly,  Bertha  ? " 

"  No,  the  first  day  that  we  got  on  board  he  told 
me  that  I  was  to  stay  there  until  I  consented  to  marry 
him.  I  told  him  that  in  that  case  I  should  become  a 
permanent  resident  on  board,  but  that  sooner  or  later 
I  should  be  rescued.  He  only  said  then  that  he  hoped 
that  I  should  change  my  mind  in  time.  He  admitted 
that  his  conduct  had  been  inexcusable,  but  that  his 
love  for  me  had  driven  him  to  it,  and  that  he  had  only 
won  me  as  many  a  knight  had  won  a  bride  before 
now. 

"  At  first  I  made  sure  that  when  we  put  into  a  port 
I  should  be  able  somehow  to  make  my  condition  known ; 
but  I  realised  for  the  first  time  what  it  was  going  to 
be  when  I  saw  us  stand  off  the  Lizard  and  lay  her  head 
for  the  south.  Up  to  that  time  I  had  scarcely  ex- 
changed a  word  with  him.  I  had  said  at  once  that 
unless  I  had  my  meals  in  my  own  cabin  with  Anna, 
I  would  eat  nothing  at  all,  and  he  said,  quite  courte- 
ously, I  must  confess,  that  I  should  in  all  respects  do 
as  I  pleased,  consistent  with  safety. 


308  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  From  that  time  he  said  '  Good  morning '  gravely 
when  I  came  up  on  deck  with  Anna,  and  made  a  re- 
mark about  the  weather.  I  made  no  reply,  and  did 
not  speak  until  he  came  to  me  in  the  morning,  and 
said  quietly,  '  That  is  the  Lizard  astern  of  us,  Miss 
Greendale.  We  are  bound  for  the  West  Indies,  the 
finest  cruising  ground  in  the  world,  full  of  quiet  little 
bays  where  we  can  anchor  for  weeks.'  '  It  is  mon- 
strous,' I  said,  desperately,  for  I  own  that  for  the  first 
time  I  was  really  frightened.  '  Some  day  you  will  be 
punished  for  this.'  '  I  must  risk  that,'  he  said,  quietly. 
*  Of  course,  at  present  you  are  angry ;  it  is  natural 
that  you  should  be  so,  but  in  time  you  will  forgive 
me,  and  will  make  allowance  for  the  length  to  which 
my  affection  for  you  has  driven  me.  It  may  be  six 
months,  it  may  be  ten  years,  but  however  long  it  may 
be,  I  can  promise  you  that  save  for  this  initial  offence 
you  will  have  no  cause  to  complain  of  me.  I  am  pos- 
sessed of  boundless  patience,  and  can  wait  for  an  in- 
definite time.  In  the  and  I  feel  sure  that  your  heart 
will  soften  towards  me.' 

"  That  was  his  tone  all  along.  He  was  perfectly  re- 
spectful, perfectly  polite.  Sometimes  for  days  not  a 
word  would  be  exchanged  between  us;  sometimes  he 
would  come  up  and  talk,  or  rather,  try  to  talk,  for 
it  was  seldom  that  he  got  any  answer  from  me.  As 
a  rule  I  sat  in  my  deck  chair  with  Anna  beside  me, 
and  he  sat  on  the  other  side  of  the  deck,  or  walked  up 
and  down,  smoking  or  talking  with  that  man  who 
was  with  him.  So  it  went  on  till  the  afternoon  when 
we  saw  you.  As  I  told  you,  he  made  us  go  down  at 
once.  I  could  see  that  he  was  furiously  angry  and  ex- 
cited. The  steward  came  to  our  cabin  early  in  the 
morning  and  said  that  Mr.  Carthew  requested  that  we 
would  dress  and  come  up  at  once.  As  I  was  anxious 
to  know  what  was  going  on,  I  did  so;  and  he  said 
when  we  came  on  deck,  '  I  am  very  sorry,  Miss  Green- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  309 

dale,  but  I  have  to  ask  you  to  go  on  shore  with  us  at 
once.' 

"  I  had  no  idea  where  we  were,  save  that  it  was 
somewhere  in  the  island  of  San  Domingo;  but  I  was 
ready  enough  to  go  ashore,  thinking  that  I  might  see 
some  white  people  that  I  could  appeal  to. 

"  I  did  speak  to  some  negroes  as  we  landed,  but 
he  said,  '  It  is  of  no  use  your  speaking  to  them,  Miss 
Greendale,  for  none  of  them  understands  any  lan- 
guage but  his  own.'  I  saw  that  they  did  not  under- 
stand me,  at  any  rate.  I  was  frightened  when  I  saw 
that  four  of  the  sailors  were  going  with  us,  and  that  a 
dozen  of  the  blacks,  armed  with  muskets,  also  formed 
round  us.  I  said  that  I  would  not  go  a-foot,  but  Car- 
thew  answered:  'It  would  pain  me  greatly  were  I 
obliged  to  take  such  a  step;  but  if  you  will  not  go, 
there  is  no  course  open  to  me  but  to  have  you  carried. 
I  am  sorry  that  it  should  be  so,  but  for  various  reasons 
it  is  imperative  that  you  should  take  up  your  abode  on 
shore  for  the  present.' 

"  Seeing  that  it  was  useless  to  resist,  I  started  with 
him.  A  short  distance  on,  two  blacks  came  up  with 
the  horses,  which  had  evidently  been  sent  for.  We 
mounted,  and  were  taken  up  among  the  hills  to  the 
place  where  you  found  us.  Every  mile  that  we  went 
I  grew  more  frightened,  for  it  seemed  to  me  that  it 
was  infinitely  worse  being  in  his  power  up  in  those 
hills  than  on  board  his  yacht,  where  something  might 
happen  by  which  I  might  be  released  from  him.  Those 
huts  you  saw  had  been  built  beforehand,  so  that  he 
had  evidently  been  preparing  to  take  us  there  if  there 
should  be  any  reason  for  leaving  the  yacht.  There  was 
bedding  and  a  couple  of  chairs  and  a  table  in  ours. 

"In  the  morning,  while  still  speaking  politely,  he 
made  it  evident  to  me  that  he  considered  he  could 
take  a  stronger  tone  than  before.  '  I  assure  you,  Miss 
Greendale,'  he  said,  '  that  this  poor  hut  is  but  a  tern- 


310  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

porary  affair.  I  will  shortly  have  a  more  comfortable 
one  erected  for  you.  You  see,  your  residence  here  is 
likely  to  be  a  long  one,  unless  you  change  your  mind. 
Pray  do  not  nourish  any  idea  that  you  can  some  day 
escape  me,  it  is  out  of  the  question;  and  certainly  no 
white  man  is  ever  likely  to  come  to  this  valley,  nor  is 
any  negro,  except  those  who  live  in  this  village.  Its 
head  is  an  Obi  man,  whose  will  is  law  to  the  negroes; 
their  belief  in  his  power  is  unlimited,  and  I  believe 
that  they  imagine  that  he  could  slay  them  with  the 
look  of  his  eye,  or  turn  them  into  frogs  or  toads  by  his 
magic  power.  I  pray  you  to  think  the  matter  over 
seriously.  Why  should  you  waste  your  life  here?  You 
did  not  always  regard  me  as  so  hateful;  and  the  love 
that  I  bear  you  is  unchangeable.  Even  could  you, 
months  or  years  hence,  make  your  escape,  which  I  re- 
gard as  impossible,  what  would  your  position  be  if  you 
returned  to  England?  What  story  would  you  have 
to  tell?  It  might  be  a  true  one,  but  would  it  be  be- 
lieved?' 

" '  I  have  my  maid,  sir,'  I  said,  passionately,  '  who 
would  confirm  my  report  of  what  I  have  suffered.' 
'No  doubt  she  would,'  he  said,  quietly,  'but  a  maid's 
testimony  as  to  her  mistress's  doings  does  not  go  for 
very  much.  I  endeavoured  to  make  the  voyage,  which 
I  foresaw  might  be  a  long  one,  pleasant  to  you  by  re- 
questing you  to  bring  her  with  you,  and  I  believe  that 
ladies  who  elope  not  unfrequently  take  their  maids 
with  them.  But  we  need  not  discuss  that.  This  valley 
will  be  your  home,  Miss  Greendale,  until  you  consent 
to  leave  it  as  my  wife.  I  do  not  say  that  I  shall  always 
share  your  solitude  here.  I  shall  cruise  about,  and 
may  even  for  a  time  return  to  England,  but  that  will 
in  no  way  alter  your  position.  I  have  been  in  com- 
munication with  the  Obi  gentleman  since  I  first  put 
into  the  bay,  and  he  has  arranged  to  take  charge  of 
your  safety  while  I  am  away.  He  is  not  a  pleasant 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  311 

man  to  look  at,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  is  an 
unmitigated  scoundrel — but  his  powers  are  unlimited. 
If  he  ordered  his  followers  to  offer  you  and  your  maid 
as  sacrifices  to  his  fetish,  they  would  carry  out  his 
orders,  not  only  willingly,  but  joyfully.  He  is  a  gen- 
tleman who,  like  his  class,  has  a  keen  eye  to  the  main 
chance,  and  will,  I  doubt  not,  take  every  precaution 
to  prevent  a  source  of  considerable  income  from  escap- 
ing him.' 

" '  You  understand,'  he  went  on,  in  a  different  man- 
ner, '  I  do  not  wish  to  threaten  you — very  far  from  it. 
I  have  endeavoured  from  the  time  that  you  set  foot 
on  board  to  make  you  as  comfortable  as  possible,  and 
to  abstain  from  thrusting  myself  upon  you  ia  the 
slightest  degree,  and  I  shall  always  pursue  the  same 
course.  But  please  understand  that  nothing  will  shake 
my  resolution.  It  will  pain  me  deeply  to  have  to  keep 
you  in  a  place  like  this,  but  keep  you  I  must  until 
you  consent  to  be  mine.  You  must  see  yourself  the 
hopelessness  as  well  as  the  folly  of  holding  out.  On  the 
one  side  is  a  life  wasted  here,  on  the  other  you  will 
be  the  wife  of  a  man  who  loves  you  above  all  things; 
who  has  risked  everything  by  the  step  that  he  has 
taken,  and  who  when  you  consent  will  devote  his  life 
to  your  happiness.  You  will  be  restored  to  your 
friends  and  to  your  position,  and  nought  will  be  known, 
except  that  we  made  a  runaway  match,  as  many  have 
done  before  us.  Do  not  answer  now.  At  any  rate  I 
will  remain  here  for  a  couple  of  months,  and  by  the 
end  of  that  time  you  may  see  that  the  alternative  is 
not  so  terrible  a  one." 

"  Then  without  another  word  he  turned  and  walked 
away  and  nothing  further  passed  between  us  until  in 
the  afternoon  when  you  so  suddenly  arrived." 

"  Thank  God,  he  behaved  better  than  I  should  hare 
given  him  credit  for,"  Frank  said,  when  she  had  fin- 
ished. "  He  must  have  felt  absolutely  certain  that 


312  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

there  was  no  chance  whatever  of  your  rescue,  and  that 
in  time  you  would  be  forced  to  accept  him,  or  he  would 
hardly  have  refrained  from  pushing  his  suit  more 
urgently.  His  calculations  were  well  made,  and  if  we 
had  not  noticed  that  brigantine  at  Cowes,  and  I  had 
not  had  the  luck  to  come  upon  some  of  his  crew  and 
pick  up  his  track,  he  might  have  been  successful." 

"  You  don't  think  that  I  should  ever  have  con- 
sented to  marry  him  ? "  Bertha  said,  indignantly. 

"  I  am  sure  that  such  a  thought  never  entered  your 
head,  Bertha;  but  you  cannot  tell  what  the  effect  of 
a  hopeless  captivity  would  have  had  upon  you.  The 
fellow  had  judged  you  well,  and  he  saw  that  the  atti- 
tude of  respect  he  adopted  would  afford  him  a  far  bet- 
ter chance  of  winning  you  than  roughness  or  threats 
would  do.  But  he  might  have  resorted  to  them  after- 
wards, and  you  were  so  wholly  and  absolutely  in  his 
power  that  you  would  almost  have  been  driven  to  ac- 
cept the  alternative  and  become  his  wife." 

She  shook  her  head  decidedly. 

"  I  would  have  killed  him  first,"  she  said.  "  I  sup- 
pose some  girls  would  say,  '  I  would  have  killed  my- 
self ; '  but  I  should  not  have  thought  of  that — at  any 
rate  not  until  I  had  failed  to  kill  him.  Every  woman 
has  the  same  right  to  defend  herself  that  a  man  has, 
and  I  should  have  no  more  felt  that  I  was  to  blame 
if  I  had  killed  him  than  you  would  do  when  you  killed 
a  man  who  had  done  you  no  individual  harm  in  battle." 

"  We  only  want  mamma  here,"  she  said  a  little 
later,  as  she  took  her  seat  in  a  deck  chair,  "  to  com- 
plete the  illusion  that  we  are  sailing  along  somewhere 
on  the  Devonshire  coast.  The  hills  are  higher  and 
more  wooded,  but  the  general  idea  is  the  same.  I  sup- 
pose I  ought  to  feel  it  very  shocking,  cruising  about 
with  you,  without  anyone  but  Anna  with  me;  but 
somehow  it  does  not  feel  so." 

"  No  wonder,  dear.    You  see,  we  have  been  looking 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  313 

forward    to    doing    exactly    the    same    thing    in    the 
spring." 

"I  think  we  had  better  not  talk  about  that  now," 
she  said,  flushing.  "  I  intend  to  make  believe,  till  we 
get  to  England,  that  mamma  is  down  below  and  that  I 
may  be  called  at  any  moment.  How  long  shall  we  be 
before  we  are  there  ? " 

"I  cannot  say,  Bertha;  I  shall  have  a  talk  with 
Hawkins  presently  as  to  what  course  we  had  better 
take.  It  may  be  best  to  sail  to  Bermuda.  If  we  find 
a  mail  steamer  about  to  start  from  there,  we  might  go 
home  in  it  and  got  there  a  fortnight  earlier  than  we 
should  do  in  the  yacht,  perhaps  more.  However,  that 
we  can  talk  over.  I  can  see  there  may  be  difficulties, 
but  undoubtedly  the  sooner  you  are  home  the  better. 
You  see,  we  are  well  in  November  now.  What  day 
is  it?"  he  reflected. 

"  I  have  lost  all  count,  Frank." 

He  consulted  a  pocket-book. 

"  To-day  is  the  twenty-first  of  November.  I  should 
think  that  if  we  get  favourable  winds,  we  might  make 
Bermuda  in  a  week — ten  days  at  the  outside;  and  if 
we  could  catch  a  steamer  a  day  or  two  after  getting 
there,  you  might  be  able  to  spend  your  Christmas  at 
Greendale." 

"  That  would  be  very  nice.  The  difficulty  would 
be  that  I  might  afterwards  meet  some  of  the  people 
who  were  with  us  on  the  steamer." 

"It  would  not  be  likely,"  he  said,  "still,  we  can 
talk  it  over.  At  any  rate,  from  the  Bermudas  we  can 
send  a  letter  to  your  mother  and  set  her  mind  at  rest." 

The  captain  and  Purvis,  consulting  the  book  of 
sailing  directions,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  pas- 
sage via  the  Bermudas  would  be  distinctly  the  best 
and  shortest.  The  wind  was  a-beam  and  steady,  and 
with  all  sail  set  the  Osprey  maintained  a  speed  of 
nine  knots  an  hour  until  Bermuda  was  in  sight.  They 


314  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

were  still  undecided  as  to  whether  they  had  better  go 
home  by  the  mail,  but  it  was  settled  for  them  by  their 
finding,  on  entering  the  port,  that  the  steamer  had 
touched  there  the  day  before  and  gone  on  the  same  even- 
ing, and  that  it  was  not  probable  that  any  other  steamer 
would  be  sailing  for  England  for  another  ten  days. 

They  stopped  only  long  enough  to  lay  in  a  store 
of  fresh  provisions  and  water,  of  which  the  supply  was 
now  beginning  to  run  very  short;  indeed,  had  not  the 
wind  been  so  steady,  all  hands  would  have  been  placed 
on  half  rations  of  water.  Bertha  did  not  land.  Sbe 
was  nervously  afraid  of  meeting  anyone  who  might 
recognise  her  afterwards,  and  six  hours  after  entering 
the  port  the  Osprey  was  again  under  way.  The  wind, 
as  is  usual  at  Barbadoes,  was  blowing  from  the  south- 
west, and  it  held  with  them  the  whole  way  home,  so 
that  after  a  remarkably  quick  run  they  dropped  anchor 
off  Southampton  on  the  fifteenth  of  December.  Frank 
had  already  made  all  arrangements  with  the  captain  to 
lay  up  the  Osprey  at  once. 

"I  shall  want  her  out  again  in  the  first  week  in 
April,  so  that  she  will  not  be  long  in  winter  quarters." 

On  landing,  Frank  despatched  a  telegram  to  Lady 
Greendale:  "Returned  all  safe  and  well,  just  starting 
for  town,  shall  be  with  you  about  six  o'clock." 

The  train  was  punctual,  and  five  minutes  before 
six  Frank  arrived  with  Bertha  at  Lady  Greendale's. 

He  had  already  told  Bertha  that  he  should  not 
come  in. 

"It  is  much  better  that  you  should  be  alone  with 
her  for  a  time.  She  will  have  innumerable  questions 
to  ask,  and  would,  of  course,  prefer  to  have  you  to 
herself.  I  will  come  round  to-morrow  morning  after 
breakfast." 

Anna  had  been  instructed  very  carefully  by  her  mis- 
tress not  to  say  anything  of  what  had  happened,  and 
in  order  that  she  might  avoid  questions,  George  Lech- 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  315 

mere  had  seen  her  into  a  cab  for  Liverpool  Street,  as 
she  wished  to  spend  a  week  with  some  friends  at 
Chelmsford.  Then  she  was  to  join  Bertha  at  Green- 
dale. 

Frank  went  to  his  chambers,  where  George  Lech- 
mere  had  driven  with  the  luggage.  The  next  morning 
he  went  early  to  Lady  Greendale's,  so  early  that  he 
found  her  and  Bertha  at  breakfast. 

"  My  dear  Frank,"  the  former  said,  embracing  him 
warmly,  "how  can  I  ever  thank  you  for  all  that  you 
have  done  for  us!  Bertha  has  been  telling  me  all 
about  how  you  rescued  her.  I  hear  that  you  were 
wounded,  too." 

"  The  wound  was  of  no  great  importance,  and,  as 
you  see,  I  have  thrown  aside  my  sling  this  morning. 
Yes,  we  went  through  some  exciting  adventures,  which 
will  furnish  us  with  a  store  of  memories  all  our  lives. 
How  have  you  been,  Lady  Greendale?  I  am  glad  to 
see  that  at  any  rate  you  are  looking  well." 

"I  have  had  a  terribly  anxious  time  of  it,  as  you 
may  suppose;  but  your  letters  were  always  so  bright 
and  hopeful  that  they  helped  me  wonderfully.  The 
first  fortnight  was  the  worst.  Your  letter  from  Gib- 
raltar was  a  great  relief,  and  of  course  the  next,  say- 
ing that  you  had  heard  that  the  yacht  really  did  touch 
at  Madeira  showed  that  you  were  on  the  right  track. 
When  you  wrote  from  Madeira,  I  sent  to  Wild's  for 
tke  largest  map  of  the  West  Indies  that  they  had,  and 
thus  when  I  got  your  letters  I  was  able  to  follow  your 
course  and  understand  all  about  it.  You  are  looking 
better  than  when  I  saw  you  last." 

"  You  should  have  seen  him  when  I  first  met  him, 
mamma.  I  hardly  knew  him,  he  looked  so  thin  and 
worn;  but  during  the  last  three  weeks  he  has  filled 
out  again,  and  he  seems  to  me  to  be  looking  quite 
himself." 

"And  Bertha  is  looking  well,  too." 


316  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  So  I  ought  to  do,  mamma.  I  don't  think  I  ever 
looked  very  bad,  in  spite  of  my  troubles,  and  the  splen- 
did voyage  we  have  had  would  have  set  anyone  up." 

"  It  has  been  a  wonderful  comfort  to  me,"  Lady 
Greendale  said,  "  that  I  have  met  hardly  anyone  that 
I  know.  The  last  three  weeks  or  so  I  have  met  two  or 
three  people,  but  I  only  said  that  I  was  up  in  town  for 
a  short  time.  Of  course,  they  asked  after  you,  and  I 
said  that  you  were  not  with  me,  as  you  were  spending 
a  short  time  with  some  people  whom  you  knew.  We 
intend  to  go  down  home  to-morrow." 

"  The  best  thing  that  you  can  do,  Lady  Greendale. 
I  shall  be  down  for  Christmas,  and  the  first  week  im 
April,  you  know,  I  am  to  carry  her  off.  So,  you  see, 
this  excursion  of  ours  has  not  altered  any  of  our  pla»s." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

CHRISTMAS  passed  off  quietly.  As  soon  as  it  was 
known  that  Lady  Greendale  had  returned,  the  neigh- 
bours called,  and  for  the  next  few  months  there  was 
the  usual  round  of  dinner  parties.  To  all  remarks  as 
to  the  length  of  time  that  she  had  been  away,  Lady 
Greendale  merely  replied  that  Bertha  had  been  stay- 
ing among  friends,  and  that  as  she  herself  had  not 
been  in  very  good  health,  she  had  preferred  staying  in 
town,  where  she  could  always  find  a  physician  close 
at  hand  if  she  needed  one.  It  was  not  until  they  had 
been  back  for  more  than  a  month  that  the  engagement 
between  Bertha  and  Major  Mallett  was  announced  by 
Lady  Greendale  to  her  friends,  and  it  was  generally 
supposed  that  it  had  but  just  taken  place.  The  an- 
nouncement gave  great  satisfaction,  for  the  general 
opinion  had  been  that  Bertha  would  get  engaged  in 
London,  and  that  Greendale  would  be  virtually  lost  to 
the  county. 

The  marriage  was  to  take  place  in  April.  "  There 
is  no  reason  for  a  long  delay,"  Lady  Greendale  ex- 
plained. "  They  have  known  each  other  ever  since 
Bertha  was  a  child.  They  intend  to  spend  their  honey- 
moon on  board  Major  Mallett's  yacht,  the  Osprey,  and 
will  go  up  the  Mediterranean  until  the  heat  begins 
to  get  too  oppressive,  when  they  talk  about  sailing 
round  the  islands,  or,  at  any  rate,  cruising  for  some 
time  off  the  west  of  Scotland." 

About  the  same  time,  George  Lechmere.  in  a  rather 
21  317 


318  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

mysterious  manner,  told  Frank  that  he  wished  for  a 
few  minutes'  conversation  with  him. 

"  What  is  it,  George  ?  Anything  wrong  with  the 
cellar?" 

"  No,  sir,  it  is  not  that.  The  fact  is  that  Anna 
Parsons,  Miss  Greendale's  maid,  you  know,  and  I  have 
settled  to  get  married,  too." 

"  Capital,  George,  I  am  heartily  glad  of  it,"  Frank 
said,  shaking  him  warmly  by  the  hand. 

"  I  never  thought  that  I  should  get  to  care  for  any- 
one again,  but  you  see  we  were  thrown  a  good  deal 
together  on  the  voyage  home,  and  I  don't  know  how  it 
came  about,  but  we  had  pretty  well  arranged  it  before 
we  got  back,  and  now  we  have  settled  it  altogether." 

"I  am  not  surprised  to  hear  it,  George.  I  rather 
fancied,  from  what  I  saw  on  board,  that  something 
was  likely  to  come  of  it.  It  is  the  best  thing  by  far 
for  you." 

"  Well,  sir,  as  I  said,  I  never  thought  that  I  should 
care  for  anyone  else,  but  I  am  sure  that  I  shall  make 
a  better  husband  now  than  I  should  have  done  had  I 
married  five  years  ago." 

"  That  I  am  sure  you  will.  You  have  had  a  rough 
lesson,  and  it  has  made  a  great  impression,  and  I  doubt 
whether  your  marriage  would  have  been  a  happy  one 
had  you  married  then,  after  what  you  told  me  of  your 
jealous  temper.  Now  I  am  sure  that  neither  Anna 
nor  anyone  else  could  wish  for  a  better  husband  than 
you  will  make.  Well  now,  what  are  you  thinking  of 
doing,  for  I  suppose  you  have  thought  it  over  well  ? " 

"  That  is  what  we  cannot  quite  settle,  Major.  I 
should  like  to  stay  with  you  all  my  life  just  as  I  am." 

"I  don't  see  that  you  could  do  that — at  least,  not 
in  your  present  condition.  There  is  no  farm  vacant, 
and  if  there  were  one  I  must  give  the  late  tenant's 
son  the  option  of  it.  That  has  always  been  the  rule 
on  the  estate.  However,  we  need  not  settle  on  that 


> 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  319 

at  present.  When  are  you  going  to  get  married?  I 
should  like  it  to  be  at  the  same  time  as  we  are.  I  am 
sure  that  Miss  Greendale  would  be  pleased.  We  both 
owe  you  a  great  deal,  and,  as  you  know,  I  regard  you 
as  my  closest  friend." 

"  Thank  you,  Major,  but  I  am  sure  that  neither 
Anna  nor  I  would  care  to  be  married  before  a  church 
full  of  grand  people,  and  we  have  agreed  that  we  won't 
do  it  until  after  you  come  back  from  your  trip.  Miss 
Bertha  has  promised  Anna  that  she  shall  go  with  her 
as  her  maid,  and,  of  course,  Major,  I  shall  want  to 
go  with  you." 

"Well,  you  might  get  married  the  week  before, 
and  still  go  with  us." 

George  shook  his  head. 

"I  think  that  it  would  be  better  the  other  way, 
Major.  We  will  go  with  you  as  we  are,  and  get  mar- 
ried after  you  come  back." 

The  next  day  Frank  had  a  long  talk  with  Mr. 
Norton. 

"  Well,  sir,  your  plan  would  suit  me  very  well ; 
nothing  could  be  better,"  said  the  old  steward.  "In 
fact,  I  was  going  to  tell  you  that  I  was  beginning  to 
find  that  the  outdoor  work  was  getting  too  much  for 
me,  and  that  though  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  give  it 
up  altogether,  I  must  either  arrange  with  you  to  have 
help  or  else  find  a  successor.  I  am  sure  that  the  ar- 
rangement you  propose  would  suit  me  exactly.  George 
Lechmere  would  be  just  the  man  for  the  work.  We 
used  to  think  him  the  best  judge  of  live  stock  in  the 
county,  and  he  is  a  good  all  round  farmer.  If  he  were 
to  take  the  work  of  the  home  farm  off  my  hands,  I 
could  keep  on  very  well  with  the  rest  of  the  estate 
for  another  two  or  three  years,  and  as  he  would  act 
as  my  assistant  he  would,  by  the  end  of  that  time,  be 
quite  capable  of  taking  it  over  altogether.  I  should 
then  move  into  Chippenham;  we  have  two  married 


320  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

daughters  living,  and  now  that  we  have  no  one  at  home 
my  wife  has  been  saying  for  some  time  that  she  would 
rather  settle  there  than  go  on  living  in  the  country, 
and  there  is  really  no  more  occasion  for  me  to  go  on 
working.  So,  as  soon  as  Lechmere  has  got  the  whole 
thing  in  hand,  I  shall  be  quite  ready  to  hand  it  over 
to  him." 

"  Well,  I  am  very  glad  that  it  is  so,  Norton.  Of 
course,  I  should  never  have  made  any  change  until 
you  yourself  were  perfectly  willing  to  give  it  up,  but 
as  you  are  willing,  I  am  certainly  glad  to  be  able  to 
put  him  into  it.  As  you  know,  he  saved  my  life,  and 
has  done  me  many  other  great  services,  and  I  regard 
him  as  a  friend  and  want  to  keep  him  near  me.  Of 
course,  he  will  go  into  the  farmhouse,  and  after  you 
retire  he  can  either  move  into  yours  or  remain  there, 
as  he  likes.  Naturally,  as  long  as  you  live,  Norton, 
I  shall  continue  the  rate  of  pay  you  have  always  had. 
You  were,  over  thirty  years  with  my  father,  and  I 
should  certainly  make  no  difference  in  that  respect." 

"  Well,  George,  I  have  arranged  your  business," 
Frank  said  that  evening.  "  Norton  is  getting  on  in 
life  now,  and  he  begins  to  find  his  work  in  winter  a 
little  too  hard  for  him,  so  I  have  arranged  that  you 
are  to  take  the  management  of  the  home  farm  alto- 
gether off  his  hands,  and  will,  of  course,  establish  your- 
self at  the  house.  You  will  be  a  sort  of  assistant  to 
him  in  other  matters  and  get  up  the  work,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  couple  of  years  at  the  outside  he  will  retire 
altogether,  and  you  will  be  steward.  If  you  like  you 
can  work  the  home  farm  on  your  own  account,  but 
that  will  be  for  your  consideration.  How  do  you  think 
that  you  will  like  that  ?  " 

"  I  should  like  it  above  everything,  Major,  and  I 
am  grateful  to  you,  indeed." 

"  Well,  I  am  glad  that  you  like  the  arrangement, 
George.  I  had  it  in  my  mind  when  I  was  talking  to 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  321 

you  two  days  ago,  but  until  I  saw  Norton,  and  found 
that  he  was  willing  to  retire,  I  did  not  propose  it." 

Towards  the  end  of  February  Lady  Greendale  and 
Bertha  went  up  to  town  for  a  fortnight,  intimating 
to  Frank  that  they  would  be  so  busy  with  important 
business  that  his  presence  there  would  not  be  desired. 
He,  however,  travelled  with  them  to  London,  and  then 
went  round  to  Southampton,  where  he  had  a  consulta- 
tion with  the  firm  in  whose  yard  the  yacht  was  laid 
up,  and  the  head  of  the  great  upholstering  firm  there, 
and  arranged  for  material  alterations  in  the  plans  of 
the  cabins  and  their  redecoration.  Everything  was  to 
be  completed  by  the  beginning  of  ApriL  He  had  writ- 
ten to  Hawkins  to  meet  him  on  board. 

"  You  must  have  everything  ready  by  the  fifth," 
he  said.  "  We  shall  arrive  late  in  the  afternoon,  or 
perhaps  in  the  evening  of  the  fifth,  and  shall  get  under 
way  next  morning.  I  hope  that  you  have  been  able  to 
get  the  same  crew." 

"  There  is  no  fear  of  their  not  all  coming,  sir,  ex- 
cept Purvis;  he  has  been  bad  all  the  winter,  and  I 
doubt  whether  he  will  be  able  to  go  with  us." 

"I  am  sorry  to  hear  that;  tell  him  that  I  shall 
make  him  an  allowance  of  a  pound  a  week  for  the 
season,  and  that  I  shall  give  him  a  little  pension  of  ten 
shillings  a  week  as  long  as  he  lives.  I  shall  consider 
that  all  who  went  with  me  on  that  cruise  to  the  West 
Indies  have  a  claim  upon  me." 

The  time  for  the  wedding  approached.  There  was 
some  consultation  between  Frank  and  Lady  Greendale 
as  to  whether  the  dinner  to  the  tenants  should  be  given 
on  that  occasion  or  on  their  return,  and  it  was  settled 
that  it  would  be  more  convenient  to  postpone  it 

"  I  am  sure  they  would  rather  have  you  and  Bertha 
here,  and  it  would  be  much  more  convenient  in  every 
way.  We  have  so  much  to  think  about  now,  and  there 
will  be  so  many  arrangements  to  be  made." 


322  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you.  I  will  put  it  all  in  the 
hands  of  Rafters,  of  Chippenham,  I  think  that  it  is 
only  right  to  give  it  to  local  people.  We  shall  want 
two  big  marquees,  one  for  your  tenants  and  mine  and 
their  wives  and  families,  and  the  other  for  all  the 
labourers  and  farm  servants." 

"  And  there  must  be  another  for  all  the  children," 
Bertha  put  in. 

"  Very  well,  Bertha.  Then,  of  course,  we  must  have 
a  military  band  and  fireworks,  and  we  had  better  have 
a  big  platform  put  down  for  those  who  like  to  dance, 
and  a  lot  of  shows  and  things  for  the  elders  and  chil- 
dren, and  a  conjuror  with  a  big  lucky  basket  and  things 
of  that  sort.  Of  course,  at  present  one  cannot  give 
even  an  approximate  date,  but  I  will  tell  them  that 
they  shall  have  a  fortnight's  notice." 

"  I  wonder  what  has  become  of  Carthew,  Major  ? " 
George  Lechmere  said,  as  he  was  having  a  last  talk 
with  Frank  on  the  eve  of  the  wedding.  "  He  will 
gnash  his  teeth  when  he  sees  it  in  the  papers." 

"  I  have  thought  of  him  a  good  many  times,  George. 
He  is  an  evil  scoundrel,  and  nothing  would  please  me 
more  than  to  hear  that  he  was  dead.  When  I  remem^ 
ber  how  many  years  he  kept  up  his  malice  against  me 
for  having  beaten  him  in  a  fight  I  know  how  intense 
must  be  his  hatred  of  me  now  that  I  have  thwarted 
all  his  plans  and  burned  his  yacht.  It  is  not  that  I  am 
afraid  of  him  personally,  but  there  is  no  saying  what 
form  his  vengeance  will  take,  for  that  he  will  sooner  or 
later  try  to  be  revenged  I  feel  absolutely  certain." 

"I  have  often  thought  of  it  myself,  sir.  Perhaps 
he  is  out  in  Hayti  still." 

"No  chance  of  that,  George.  Miss  Greendale  said 
that  he  told  her  that  he  had  money  sufficient  to  pay 
for  a  ten  years'  cruise.  That  may  have  been  a  lie,  but 
he  must  have  had  money  sufficient  to  last  him  for 
some  time,  anyhow,  and  you  may  be  sure  that  he  took 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  323 

it  on  shore  with  him.  He  may  have  died  from  the  ef- 
fects of  that  wound  you  gave  him,  but  if  he  is  alive 
I  have  no  doubt  that  he  is  in  England  somewhere. 
Of  course,  he  would  not  show  himself  where  he  was 
known,  having  been  a  heavy  defaulter  last  year,  but 
he  may  have  let  his  beard  grow  and  so  disguised  him- 
self that  he  would  not  be  easily  recognised.  As  to 
what  he  is  doing,  of  course  I  have  not  the  slightest 
idea;  but  we  may  be  quite  sure  that  he  is  not  up  to 
any  good.  Well,  George,  then  it  is  quite  settled  that 
you  and  Anna  are  to  go  off  with  the  luggage  directly 
the  wedding  is  over.  You  will  come  ashore  with  the 
gig  and  meet  us  at  eight  o'clock  at  the  station  with  a 
carriage  to  take  us  down  to  the  boat." 

"I  will  be  there,  Major,  and  see  that  everything 
is  ready  for  you  on  board." 

When  packing  up  his  things  in  the  morning, 
George  Lechmere  put  aside  a  pistol  and  a  dagger  that 
he  had  taken  from  the  sash  of  a  mutineer  whom  he 
had  killed  in  India. 

"  They  are  not  the  sort  of  things  a  man  generally 
carries  at  a  wedding,"  he  said,  grimly,  "but  until  I 
know  something  of  what  that  villain  is  doing  I  mean 
to  keep  them  handy  for  use.  There  is  never  any  say- 
ing what  he  may  be  up  to,  and  I  know  well  enough  that 
the  Major,  whatever  he  says,  will  never  give  the  mat- 
ter a  thought." 

He  loaded  the  pistol  and  dropped  it  into  his  coat 
pocket;  then  he  opened  his  waistcoat,  cut  a  slit  in  the 
lining  under  his  left  arm,  and  pushed  the  dagger  down 
it  until  it  was  stopped  by  the  slender  steel  crosspiece 
at  the  handle. 

"I  will  make  a  neater  job  of  it  afterwards,"  he 
said  to  himself;  "that  will  do  for  the  present,  and  I 
can  get  at  it  in  a  moment." 

The  wedding  went  off  as  such  things  generally  do. 
The  church  was  crowded,  the  girls  of  the  village  school 


324  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

lined  the  path  from  the  gate  to  the  church  door  and 
strewed  flowers  as  the  bridal  party  arrived,  and  as  they 
drove  off  to  Greendale,  tenants  of  both  estates  col- 
lected in  the  churchyard  cheered  them  heartily.  There 
was  a  large  gathering  at  breakfast,  but  at  last  the  toasts 
were  all  drunk  and  the  awkward  time  of  waiting  over, 
and  at  three  o'clock  Major  Mallett  and  his  wife  drove 
off  amidst  the  cheers  of  the  crowd  assembled  to  see 
them  start. 

"  Thank  God  that  is  all  over,"  Frank  said  heartily 
as  they  passed  out  through  the  lodge  gates. 

At  half-past  eight  Captain  Hawkins  was  standing 
at  the  landing-stage  in  a  furious  passion. 

"  Where  can  that  fellow  Jackson  have  got  to  ? " 
he  said,  stamping  his  foot.  "  I  said  that  you  were  all 
to  be  back  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  when  we  landed, 
and  it  is  three  quarters  of  an  hour  now.  I  never  knew 
him  to  do  such  a  thing  before,  and  I  would  not  have 
had  such  a  thing  happen  this  evening  for  any  money. 
What  will  the  Major  think  when  he  finds  only  five  men 
instead  of  six  in  the  gig  on  such  an  occasion  as  this? 
We  shall  be  having  them  down  in  a  minute  or  two. 
Jackson  had  better  not  show  his  face  on  board  after 
this.  It  is  the  most  provoking  thing  I  ever  knew." 

"It  ain't  his  way,  captain,"  one  of  the  men  said. 
"Jackson  can  go  on  the  spree  like  the  rest  of  us,  but 
I  never  knew  him  to  do  such  a  thing  all  the  years  I 
have  known  him,  when  there  was  work  to  be  done,  and 
I  am  sure  he  would  not  do  so  this  evening.  He  may 
have  got  knocked  down  or  run  over  or  something." 

"I  will  take  an  oar  if  you  like,  captain,"  said  a 
man  in  a  yachtsman's  suit,  who  was  loitering  near. 
"  I  have  nothing  to  do  and  may  as  well  row  off  as  do 
anything  else.  You  can  put  me  on  shore  in  the  dingey 
afterwards." 

"All  right,  my  lad,  take  number  two  athwart.  It 
is  too  dark  to  see  faces,  and  the  owner  is  not  likely, 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  325 

to  notice  that  there  is  a  strange  hand  on  board.  I 
will  give  you  half  a  crown  gladly  for  the  job." 

The  man  got  into  the  boat  and  took  his  seat. 

"  Here  they  come,"  the  captain  went  on.  "  We  are 
only  just  in  time.  Up-end  your  oars,  lads.  We  ain't 
strong  enough  to  cheer,  but  we  will  give  them  a  hearty 
'  God  bless  you ! '  as  they  come  down." 

George  Lechmere  came  on  first,  and  handed  in  a 
bundle  of  wraps,  parasols,  and  umbrellas.  The  cap- 
tain stood  at  the  top  of  the  steps,  and  as  Frank  and 
Bertha  came  up  took  off  his  hat. 

"  God  bless  you  and  your  wife,  sir,"  he  said,  and 
the  men  re-echoed  the  words  in  a  deep  chorus. 

"  Thank  you,  captain ;  thank  you  all,  lads,  for  my 
wife  and  myself,"  Frank  said,  heartily,  and  a  minute 
later  the  boat  pushed  off.  The  tide  was  running  out 
strong,  and  they  were  half-way  across  it  towards  the 
dark  mass  of  yachts  when  there  was  a  sudden  crash 
forward. 

•"  What  is  it  ? "  Frank  exclaimed. 

"  This  fellow  has  stove  in  the  boat,  sir,"  the  bow  oar 
exclaimed,  and  then  came  a  series  of  hurried  exclama- 
tions. Frank  had  not  caught  the  words,  but  the  rush  of 
water  aft  told  him  that  something  serious  had  happened. 

"  Row,  men,  row !  "  he  shouted.  "  Steer  to  the  near- 
est yacht,  Hawkins." 

"  We  shall  never  get  there,  sir.  She  will  be  full 
in  half  a  minute." 

"  Let  each  man  stick  to  his  oar,"  Frank  said,  stand- 
ing up.  "  We  aft  will  hold  on  to  the  boat."  Then  he 
raised  his  voice  in  a  shout : 

"  Yachts,  ahoy !  Send  boats ;  we  are  sinking ! 
Don't  be  frightened,  darling,"  he  said  to  Bertha ;  "  keep 
hold  of  the  gunwale.  I  can  keep  you  up  easily  enough 
until  help  comes,  but  it  is  better  to  stick  to  the  boat. 
We  must  have  run  against  something  that  has  stove 
her  in." 


326  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

A  moment  later  the  water  was  up  to  the  thwarts, 
the  boat  gave  a  lurch,  and  then  rolled  over.  Frank 
threw  his  arm  round  Bertha,  and  as  the  boat  capsized 
clung  to  it  with  his  disengaged  hand. 

"  Don't  try  to  get  hold  of  the  keel,"  he  said.  "  It 
would  turn  her  over  again.  Just  let  your  hands  rest 
on  her,  and  take  hold  of  the  edge  of  one  of  the  planks. 
That  is  it,  Hawkins;  do  you  get  the  other  side  and 
just  keep  her  floating  as  she  is.  We  shall  have  help 
in  a  minute  or  two.  Are  you  all  right,  George  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  am  at  her  stern.  Do  you  want  assistance, 
sir?" 

"  No,  we  are  all  right,  George." 

A  moment  later  a  man  came  up  beside  the  Major, 
and  put  his  hand  heavily  on  his  shoulder. 

"  You  won  last  time,  Mallett,"  he  hissed  in  his  ear. 
"  It  is  my  turn  now." 

The  man's  weight  was  pressing  him  under  water, 
and  the  boat  gave  a  lurch.  Frank  loosed  his  hold  of 
Bertha  with  the  words,  "  Hold  on,  dear,  for  a  minute," 
and,  turning,  grappled  with  his  enemy,  at  the  same 
moment  grasping  his  right  wrist  as  the  arm  was  raised 
to  strike  him  with  a  knife.  In  a  moment  both  went 
below  the  water.  They  came  up  beyond  the  stern,  and 
Frank  said,  "  Take  care  of  Bertha,  George — Car- 
thew "  and  then  went  down  again. 

Furiously  they  struggled.  They  were  well  matched 
in  strength,  but  Frank  felt  that  his  antagonist  was 
careless  of  his  own  life,  for  he  had  wound  his  legs 
round  him,  and,  unable  to  wrench  his  arm  from  his 
grasp,  was  doing  his  utmost  to  prevent  their  coming 
to  the  surface.  Suddenly,  when  he  felt  that  he  could 
no  longer  retain  his  breath,  he  felt  arms  thrown  round 
them  both,  and  a  moment  later  came  to  the  surface. 
Then  he  heard  an  exclamation  of  "  Thank  God ! "  an 
arm  was  raised,  and  two  blows  struck  rapidly.  Car- 
thew's  grasp  relaxed,  the  knife  dropped  from  his  hand, 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  327 

and,  as  Frank  shook  himself  free,  he  sank  under  the 
water. 

"Are  you  all  right,  Major?"  his  rescuer  said. 

"Yes,"  he  gasped. 

"Put  your  hand  on  my  shoulder;  the  boat  is  not 
a  length  away." 

A  minute  later  Frank  was  beside  Bertha  again. 

"  Where  have  you  been,  Frank  ?  I  was  fright- 
ened." 

"  One  of  the  men  grasped  me,"  he  said,  "  and  I 
should  have  turned  the  boat  over  if  I  had  not  let  go. 
However,  thanks  to  George  Lechmere,  who  came  to 
my  rescue,  I  have  shaken  him  off.  Ah!  here  is  help." 

Three  or  four  boats  from  the  yachts  were  indeed 
rowing  up.  The  four  clinging  to  the  gig  were  taken 
on  board  by  one  of  them,  while  the  others  picked  up 
the  men  who  were  floating  supported  by  their  oars. 

"  Don't  say  a  word  about  it,  George,"  Frank  whis- 
pered. 

The  Osprey  was  lying  but  two  or  three  hundred 
yards  away,  and  they  were  soon  alongside. 

"  This  is  not  the  sort  of  welcome  I  thought  to  give 
you  on  board,  dear,"  he  said,  as  he  helped  Bertha  on 
deck,  and  went  down  the  companion  with  her.  Anna 
burst  into  exclamations  of  dismay  at  seeing  the  drip- 
ping figures. 

"We  have  had  an  accident,  Anna,"  Frank  said, 
cheerfully,  "but  I  don't  think  that  we  are  any  the 
worse  for  it.  Please  take  your  mistress  aft  and  get  her 
into  dry  things  at  once.  Steward,  open  one  of  those 
bottles  of  champagne,  and  give  me  half  a  tumbler 
full." 

He  hurried  after  the  others  with  it. 

"  Please  drink  this  at  once,  Bertha,"  he  said.  "  Yes, 
you  shall  have  some  tea  directly,  but  start  with  this; 
it  will  soon  put  you  in  a  glow.  Oh!  yes,  I  am  going 
to  have  one,  too;  but  a  ducking  is  no  odds  to  me," 


328  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

Then  he  ran  up  on  deck. 

"You  have  saved  my  life  again,  George,  for  that 
scoundrel  would  have  drowned  us  both." 

"  I  saw  the  knife  in  his  hand  as  you  went  down,  and 
knew  that  you  wanted  me  more  than  Miss — I  mean 
Mrs.  Mallett  did." 

"  How  did  you  make  him  let  go  so  quickly  ?  " 

"  I  had  a  sort  of  fear  that  sooner  or  later  that  vil- 
lain would  be  up  to  something,  and  had  made  up  my 
mind  that  I  would  always  have  a  weapon  handy.  This 
morning  I  stuck  that  dagger  of  mine  inside  the  lining 
of  my  waistcoat,  so  that  it  might  be  handy.  And  it 
was  handy.  You  were  not  five  yards  from  me  when 
you  went  down,  and  I  dived  for  you,  but  could  not 
find  you  at  first,  and  had  to  come  up  once  for  air.  Of 
course,  I  could  not  use  the  dagger  until  I  found  which 
was  which,  and  then  I  put  an  end  to  it." 

"Then  you  killed  him,  George?" 

"I  don't  think  that  he  will  trouble  you  any  more, 
sir;  and  if  ever  a  chap  deserved  his  fate  that  villain 
did.  Why,  sir,  do  you  know  how  it  all  happened  ? " 

"  No,  I  did  not  catch  what  the  man  at  the  bow 
said;  there  was  such  a  confusion  forward." 

"  He  said  that  he  had  staved  the  boat  in  somehow. 
He  must  have  taken  the  place  of  one  of  the  men  on 
purpose  to  do  it." 

"Well,  George,  I  can't  say  that  I'm  sorry." 

"I  am  heartily  glad,  sir.  I  am  no  more  sorry  for 
killing  him  than  for  shooting  one  of  those  murderous 
niggers;  less  sorry,  a  great  deal.  The  man  deserved 
hanging.  He  was  intending  to  murder  you,  and  per- 
haps Mrs.  Mallett,  and  I  killed  him  as  I  should  have 
killed  a  mad  dog  that  was  attacking  you." 

"  Well,  say  nothing  about  it  at  present,  George.  It 
would  be  a  great  shock  to  my  wife  if  she  were  to  know 
it.  Now  you  had  better  go  and  change  your  things  at 
once,  as  I  am  going  to  do.  Are  all  the  men  rescued  ? " 


THE  QUEEN'S  CUP.  329 

"Yes,  sir,  they  are  all  five  on  board." 

"Hawkins,"  Frank  said,  putting  his  hand  in  his 
pocket,  "give  the  men  who  came  to  help  us  a  couple 
of  sovereigns  each,  and  tell  our  men  that  I  don't  want 
them  to  talk  about  the  affair.  I  will  see  you  about  it 
again." 

Frank  was  not  long  in  getting  into  dry  clothes,  and 
a  few  minutes  later  Bertha  came  in. 

"  Are  you  none  the  worse  for  it,  dear  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit,  Frank ;  that  champagne  has  thoroughly 
warmed  me.  What  a  sudden  affair  it  all  was.  Is  every 
one  safe  ? " 

"  Yes,  they  stuck  to  the  oars,  and  all  our  crew  were 
picked  up.  It  was  a  bad  start,  was  it  not?  But  it 
has  never  happened  to  me  before,  and  I  hope  that  it 
will  never  happen  to  me  again." 

"  Some  people  would  be  inclined  to  think  this  an 
unlucky  beginning,"  said  Bertha,  with  a  slight  tone 
of  interrogation. 

"  I  am  certainly  not  one  of  them,"  he  laughed.  "  I 
had  only  one  superstition,  and  that  is  at  an  end.  You 
know  what  it  was,  dear,  but  the  spell  is  broken.  He 
had  a  long  run  of  minor  successes,  but  I  have  won 
the  only  prize  worth  having  for  which  we  have  been 
rivals." 

Some  days  later  the  body  of  a  sailor  was  washed 
ashore  near  Selsey  Bill.  An  inquest  was  held  and  a 
verdict  returned  that  the  man  had  been  murdered  by 
some  person  or  persons  unknown ;  but  although  the  po- 
lice of  Portsmouth,  Southampton,  Cowes,  and  Hyde 
made  vigilant  inquiries,  they  were  unable  to  ascertain 
that  any  yacht  sailor  hailing  from  those  ports  had  sud- 
denly disappeared.  There  was  much  discussion  in  the 
forecastle  of  the  Osprey  as  to  the  identity  and  motives 
of  the  man  who  had  first  got  into  conversation  with 
Jackson,  and  then  asked  him  to  take  a  drink,  which 
must  have  been  hocussed,  for  Jackson  remembered 


330  THE  QUEEN'S  CUP. 

nothing  afterwards;  it  was  evident  that  the  fellow 
had  done  it  in  order  to  take  his  place.  He  had  staved 
in  the  boat,  and,  as  they  supposed,  afterwards  swam 
to  shore;  but  the  crime  seemed  so  singularly  motive- 
less that  they  finally  put  it  down  as  the  work  of  a 
madman. 

It  was  not  until  the  day  before  the  Osprey  anchored 
again  in  Cowes,  three  months  later,  that  Bertha,  on 
expressing  some  apprehension  of  further  trouble  from 
Carthew,  if  he  had  survived  the  wound  George  Lech- 
mere  gave  him,  learned  the  true  account  of  the  sink- 
ing of  the  gig,  as  she  went  on  board  at  Southampton 
on  her  wedding  day. 


THE  EXD. 


BRIGHT  AND  BOLD  SERIES 


By  Arthur  M,  Winnel< 
New  edition,  hanuson.t 
illustrated  and  bound. 

1  Poor  but  Plucky, 
or  the   Mystery   of  a 
Flood 

2  School  Days  of 
Fred  Harley,  or  Rivals 
for  all  Honors. 

3  By    Pluck    not 
Luck,  or  Dan  Gran- 
b  u  r  y  '  s  Struggle  to 
Rise. 

4    The  Missing  Tin  Box,  or  Hal  Carson's  Re- 
markable City  Adventure. 

COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

FOR  BOYS. 

Cloth,  beautifully  stamped  in  ink  and  "gold.      Illustra- 
ted. 

By  ARCHDEACON  FARRAR. 

1  Eric,  or  Little  by  Little.    A  Tale  of  Roslyn 
School. 

2  Julian  Home.     A  Tale  of  College  Life. 

3  St.  Winifred's,  or  the  World  of  School. 

By  THOMAS  HUGHES, 

4  Tom  Brown's  School  Days  at  Rugby. 

5  Tom  Brown  at  Oxford. 

Fur  Sale  by  all  Book  and  Newsdealers,  or  will  be  sent  to  any  address 

in  the  u  .  S.,  Canada  or  Mexico,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  price, 

75c  each,  in  currency,  money  order  or  stamps. 

M.  fl.  Donahue  &  Co.  " 


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of  securing  uul- 
formly  bound 
sets  of  these 
works,  attract- 
ively packed  in 
substantial  box- 
es. They  will  un- 
doubtedly dem- 
onstrate their 
salabilityon  ac- 
connt  of  the 
elaborate  show- 
ing which  can  be 

made  by  a  present  of  this  kind  for  a  moderate  price.  The  books  are  all  printed 
from  new  plates,  clear  type,  on  an  extra  quality  of  paper,  and  bound  in  su- 
perior binder's  cloth,  eacli  series  having  an  attractive  cover  design,  stamped 
in  three  colors  and  gold. 

THE  GUNBOAT  SERIES.     By  Harry  Castlemon. 

Frank  the  Yetmg  Katnralirt  frank  in  the  Woods  Frank  *n  a  Gunboat 

Frank  on  the  lower  Kissistippi         Frank  Before  Vkksburg  frank  on  the  Prairie 

THE  BOAT  CLUB  SERIES.    By  Oliver  Optic. 
All  Aboard  Boat  Club 

low  or  Never  Poor  and  Prond 

THE  WOOD  RANGERS  SERIES. 
Boy  Hunter*  Lone  Ranch 

Scalp  Hunters  Moat  in  the  f  orost  Desert  Home 

THE  LEATHER  STOCKING  SERIES.    By  J.  Fenimore  Cooper. 

Ths>  Dsersliyer  Last  of  the  Mohicans  Pioneerf 

Tne  Prairie  The  PtthSnder  The  Spy 

LUCK  AND  PLUCK  SERIES.     By  Horatio  Alger,  Jr. 

Slik  or  Swim  Strong  and  Steady  Strive  and  Succeed 

Try  and  Trust  Risen  from  the  Ranks  Bound  to  Rite 

TATTERED  TOM  SERIES.     By  Horatio  Alger,  Jr. 

Paul  the  Paddler  Phil  the  fidd!»  Julius  the  Street  B«J 

Slow  and  Sore.  Sam's  Chance  The  Toung  Outlaw 

WAY  TO  SUCCESS  SERIES.     By  Horatio  Alger,  Jr. 

Bob  Burton  The  Store  Boy  Struggling  Upward 

Luk*  Talton  Facing  the  Worli  In  a  Hew  World 


Little  by  Littte 
Try  Again 

By  Capt  Mayne  Reid. 

Rifle  Rangen 


Any  of  the  above  sets  of  six  volumes,  sent  to  any  address  on  receipt 
'  of  $3  00,  or  any  Individual  title  will  be  sent  on  receipt  of  75  centa 

M        .^.      DO  NO  HUE      a      COMPANY 

407-429  Dearborn  Street  >:•  Chicago.  Illinois 


43  Titles 

G.  A.  Henty  was  the  most  pro- 
lific writer  of  beys'  stories  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  From  two 
to  five  books  a  year  came  from 
his  facile  pen.  No  Christmas 
holidays  were  complete  without 
a  new  "Henty  Book."  This  new 
series  comprises  43  titles.  They 
are  printed  on  an  extra  quality 
of  paper,  from  new  plates  and 
bound  in  the  best  quality  of  cloth, 
stamped  on  back  and  side  in  inks 
from  unique  and  attractive  dies. 


Among  the  Malays 

2  Bonnie  Prince 

Charlie 

3  Boy  Knight,  The 

4  Bravest  of  the  Brave. . . . 

5  By  England's  Aid 

6  By  Pike  and  Dyke 

7  By  Right  of  Conquest.  . 

8  By  Sheer  Pluck 

9  Captain  Bayley's  Hck.  .. 

10  Cat  of  Bubastes 

11  Cot.   Thorndyke's 

Secret : . 

12  Cornet  of  Horse 

13  Dragon  and  Raven  .... 

14  Facing   Death 

15  Final  Reckoning,  A. ... 

16  For  Name  and  Fame. ... 

17  For  the  Temple 

18  Friends,  Though  Divided 

19  Golden  Canon 

20  In  Freedom's  Cause. . . . 

21  In  the  Reign  of  Terror. . 

22  In  Times  of  Peril 

23  Jack   Archer;  A 

Tale  of  Crimea.  . . 


24  Lion  of  St.  Mark 

25  Lion  of  the  North 

26  Maori  and  Settler 

27  One  of  the  28th 

28  Orange  and  Green; 

a  Tale  of  Boyne 
and  Limerick. . . 

29  Out  on  the  Pampas. . .  „ 

30  Rujub,  the  Juggler 

31  St.  George  for  Eng- 

land  

32  Sturdy  and  Strong 

33  Through  the  Fray 

34  True  to  tke  Old 

Flag 

35  Under  Drake's  Flag 

36  With  Clive  in  India 

37  With  Lee  in  Virginia. . . . 

38  With  Wolfe  in  Canada.. 

39  Young  Buglers,  The. . . . 

40  Young  Carthagin- 

ians  

41  Young  Colonists, 

The 

42  Young  Franc-Tireurs 

43  Young  Midshipman 


For  sale  by    all  Book  and  Newsdealers,   or  will  be   sent  to   any  address 

in  the  U.S.,  Canada  or  Mexico,  postpaid  upon  receipt  of  price. 

50c  each,  in  currency,  money  order   or  stamps. 

R.  A.   DONOHVC  &  CO.   407-429  Dearborn  St..    CHICAGO 


Alger  Series  for  Boys 

The  public  and  popular  verdict 
for  many  years  has  approved  of 
the  Alger  series  of  books  as  among 
the  most  wholesome  of  all  stories 
for  boys.  To  meet  the  continued 
demand  for  these  books  in  the 
most  attractive  style  of  the  bind- 
er's art,  we  have  made  this  special 
edition  in  ornamental  designs  in 
three  colors,  stamped  on  side  and 
back.  Clear,  large  type  is  used  on 
superior  super-finish  paper.  The 
elaborate  designs  are  stamped  up- 
on binder's  English  linen  cloth,  with  side  and  back  titles 
in  large  letterings.  Each  book  in  printed  wrapper. 


1  Adrift  In  New  York 

2  Andy  Gordon 

3  Andy  Grant's  Pluck 

4  Bob  Burton 

5  Bound  to  Rise 

6  Brave  and  Bold 

7  Cash  Boy,  The 

8  Chester  Rand 

9  Cousin's  Conspiracy,  A 

10  Do  and  Dare 

1 1  Driven  From  Home 

12  Erie  Train  Boy 

13  Facing  the  World 

14  Five  Hundred  Dollars 

15  Frank's  Campaign 

16  Grit;  The  Young  Boatman 

17  Herbert  Carter's  Legacy 

18  Hector's  Inheritance 

19  Helping  Himself 

20  In  a  New  World 

21  Jack's  Ward 

22  Jed,  the   Poor  House  Boy 

23  Joe's  Luck 

24  Julius,  the  Street  Boy 

25  Luke  Walton 


26  Making  His  Way 

27  Mark  Mason's  Victory 

28  Only  an  Irish  Boy 

29  Paid,  the  Peddler 

30  Phil,  the  Fidd'er 

31  Ralph  Raymond's  Heir 

32  Risen  from  the  Ranks 

33  Sam's  Chance 

34  Shifting  for  Himself 

35  Sink  or  Swim 

36  Slow  and  Sure 

37  Store  Boy,  The 

38  Strive  and  Succeed 

39  Strong  and  Steady 

40  Struggling  Upward 

41  Tin  Box,  The 

42  Tom,  the  Boot-Black 

43  Tony,  the  Tramp 

44  Try  and  Trust 

45  Wait  and  Hope 

46  W.  Sherwood's  Probation 

47  Young  Acrobat 

48  Young  Adventurer,  The 

49  Young  Outlaw 

50  Young  Salesman 


For  Sale  by  all  Book   and  Newsdealers,  or  wiii  be  sent  to  any  address 

in  the  U.  S..  Canada  or  Mexico,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  price 

50c  each,  in  currency,  money  order  or  stamps. 

M.  A.  Donohue  &  Co. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000135430     7 


LARGEST  AND  OLDEST 
BOOK  AND  MAGAZINE 


